The Life We Live
by A Charmed Vampire
Summary: Bella's life took a sudden turn when she moved to Forks. She found a mate and a dangerous enemy all in this one small town. She's in for a lot to work to deal with both. Rewrite of An Imprint of a Lifetime. Bella/Leah. NonHuman Bella. Jacob Bashing. FemSlash.
1. Chapter 1

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 1**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the basic idea, AU and OCs. The rest belong to Stephenie Meyer, from whom I'm just borrowing characters.**

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Running, no wait, chasing. I was chasing something, or maybe more specifically someone. As my paws hit the ground, I could sense myself gaining momentum. What I was chasing I didn't know, but I knew it was important. As I skidded into a clearing, the scent was just gone. I tried to recover it, but it had just disappeared. I howled, lifting my head to the night sky.

I awoke with a start, I was covered in sweat. I growled in frustration and started relax against my pillow again. I had been getting the same recurring dream ever since I had come to Forks. I would always get so close to what I was searching for, but always came up short. I didn't know why or even what I was looking for, but I knew it was important. I suppose I would just try again tomorrow night.

I flopped over to look at the clock. I groaned, as the clock glared 2:00 P.M. Yeah, I know I have messed up sleeping habits. But due to my nature, I'm a nocturnal creature. Up with the moon, down with the sun if you want to look at it that way. But I did need to get up. I was attending a bonfire with Jake tonight. Poor guy, he totally has the hots for me, but unfortunately since he isn't my mate, there will be no chance that it will happen.

I think the tribe is just going to be telling their "stories" tonight. I don't really know why Jake invited me. I mean I'm not technically suppose to know that their shifters, and they sure as hell don't know about me. Although, I suppose that is a good thing, the Cullens don't even know about my nature. Thank god for my mother. From her I gained the power to mask my scent. So now I smell like the sweeter than average human, not the dangerous creature that I actually am.

I can't let anyone know about me, it's too dangerous. I've done all that I can to squash that part of me down ever since I came here. I mean I came here in the first place to get away from the supernatural for a while, and of course with my luck I run into two different species, right on my back porch. But I didn't really want to move, and these vampires and shifters were intriguing to say the least. In all my years I had never come across vampires such as the Cullens. They try so hard to be as human as possible, resorting to feeding from animals.

Personally, I think it is a weak trait, but I'm not really in a position to judge. After all, vampires are in my sphere of jurisdiction if you will. I see nothing wrong with feeding from humans, as long as they don't risk exposure. It's just natural selection at work, those humans with heightened self preservation will survive, those without, well. It's just the way of the world, the food chain. Vampires were by no means at the top like they think. There's a reason that Caius tried to exterminate the Children of the Moon, my kin in a way.

I had mixed feelings about Caius' actions. If it was in an act of self defense I would have no problem, but he killed them all, out of fear. A werewolf nearly killed him, so he takes them all out. Werewolves were not all bloodthirsty killers. Some did live fairly peacefully, hunting what they needed and nothing more.

Oh well, enough reminiscing. Jake was going to be here in a few hours, and I had yet to roll out of bed. I sighed and threw the sheets off of me. I stumbled to the bathroom, pretty much half asleep. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I suppose I understood my Jake had the hots for me. I'm not really a vain person, but I wasn't going to say I didn't know how good I looked. Chocolate brown hair, with light brown highlights, flawless skin with a slight tan, and I stood about 5'8". Although the most unique thing about me was my eye color, I had an icy blue, piercing gaze. It only changed in my fully shifted form, changing from blue to a bright yellow.

I hopped in the shower, allowing the hot water to clean the sweat from my body. Scalding hot showers were an amazing relaxation technique for me. It soothed my muscles and the steam helped to clear my mind. I was notorious for taking extremely long showers, so after about a half an hour just standing under the running water, I finally decided to get out. I grabbed my black towel on the rack and dried myself, along with blow drying my hair.

Wrapping it around my body, although I don't know why I bothered. It's not like anyone was going to walk in on me. I walked back into my room and tried to decide what I wanted to wear. I settled on something safe, I was going to be going in the den of the wolves, I couldn't afford to draw any more attention then I was going to for being a "pale face" at a tribal bonfire. I grabbed a pair of dark blue skinny jeans with my black Chucks, along with a plain white tank top, fairly normal for plain ol' Bella.

After changing, I went back to my bathroom to straighten my hair and apply make up. My chocolate waves were good for some occasions, but I felt the need to at least do something with my face for some odd reasons. I didn't fight it though, I learned a long time ago to just listen to my instincts, they never misguided me. I didn't apply a lot of makeup, just basic eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow, with a bit of lip gloss. I didn't really need cover up or anything since my skin is flawless.

I headed downstairs to my kitchen and raided the fridge. I made myself a couple ham and turkey sandwiches for a snack. While I don't need to eat as much as the shifters to maintain my strength, I needed to eat more than a human. I still had a couple hours until Jake was suppose to pick me up, so I decided to call Edward, for appearance's sake more than anything. Yeah, the bronze-haired Cullen thought we were in some sort of relationship, he obviously didn't think he was my mate like he loved to tell me. It's most likely because of my scent masking power, he finds it more potent or something. But I know for a fact we are not mates.

It might also be because he is unable to read my mind, due to my mental shield, something that I had been born with. Any gift or power that could be perceived as malicious is unable to penetrate my shield. Powers like seeing the future, like my father had or emotion manipulation in the positive sense could get through. So Jasper's powers did work on me, however only if he was projecting positive feelings or emotions, any negative emotions like bloodlust or anger would not work. I had little to worry about though since Jasper only used his powers to calm people down or make them feel more comfortable.

But whatever the reason, Edward was nearly obsessed with me. It was actually getting a little annoying. I needed to do something about it eventually, but for now, it was convenient. It gave me an in with the family that intrigued me so. I genuinely did enjoy the Cullen's company for the most part. Rosalie hated my guts, probably because she thought I would expose them or something, if only she knew it was my job to keep the supernatural a secret, among other duties. Alice was a little high strung for me, but her bubbly personality was infectious. It was hard to stay annoyed at her for long.

Although despite how it may seem, my relationship with the Cullens was purely for research and exposure to new things, not because I wanted to be friends or anything with them. Sure they were nice, especially for vampires, but I still didn't want to become buddy buddy with them. But for appearance I did go ahead and call Edward. The conversation wasn't that interesting, as anything with him really. He tried to warn me off going to the bonfire tonight and I adamantly told him I was going to go. I wanted to, I had minimal interaction with the shifters, only really talking with Jake. I had met Sam before, but only in passing, and I got the feeling that he didn't like me much. Probably because I was close with Jake, and being close with him risked exposure for them.

We ended up talking for an hour or so, mainly about arbitrary and random things. I heard a knock at the door, and told Edward I needed to go.

"Be careful love, wolves roam the reservation." I hung up and snorted, he would say something like that. Anyways, I went to answer the door and ended up being picked up and spun around by Jake. I laughed, I did genuinely like Jake, he was a nice guy and his imprint would be a lucky girl, I just happened to not be her, or him I suppose if nature decided it wanted Jake to swing for that team. I internally laughed at the thought.

"You ready to leave Bells?" I nodded as he set me down. I followed him after locking up, to his truck. I climbed in the passenger side as Jake started up the engine. Jake and I didn't talk too much during the drive to the reservation. He asked how I've been, I just told him I was doing fine.

"Just fine Bells?" He questioned.

"Yeah Jake, nothing really too interesting. Been hanging out a bit with the Cullens, but that's about it." I could hear Jake let out a low growl, too low for human ears to hear.

"I'd be careful around them Bells. They seem pretty sketchy." I rolled my eyes, but stayed silent. There really wasn't much I could say to persuade him otherwise. Technically they were dangerous creatures, but little did anyone in Forks know, I was by far the most dangerous creature in this neck of the woods.

As we crossed the reservation line, Jake took a left turn to drive out near the beach. When we had parked I could see most of the pack already starting the fire. I hopped out of the truck and followed Jake over to the guys. He introduced me to Sam, again. Sam's eyes looked me up and down, like he was inspecting me, before extending a hand. I reached out and shook it, giving him a small smile.

"Bella, I've heard a lot about you." I laughed as Jake blushed.

"I'm sure you have." Sam looked over at the other guys, saying that he needed to go help them out, leaving me with Jake. Then Jake started to point out the other boys, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Collin, and Brady. He had told me that Seth and Leah should be here soon. I then started thinking about the female shifter. I had never met her, although from what Jake told me, she was kind of like the tribal version of Rosalie. I wasn't scared to meet her, far from it, I was just hoping it would go well. Female shifters are extremely rare, it would be nice to "befriend" her, so I could learn more.

I heard a commotion and looked for the source. I saw a female and male, the female leaping onto the male, causing them both to tumble to the ground. They were both laughing as they picked themselves up from the ground. The female, who I assumed was probably Leah, dusted herself off. As her eyes turned and met mine, I could feel the inner beast howl within me. It took me by surprise, the howl I could feel was the same as in my dreams. Except now instead of being a voice of frustration and defeat, it was a howl of victory. This was who I was looking for in my dreams. I took a closer look and then it clicked. This was my mate.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers. Most likely because she felt the imprint pull to me. One of the ancient laws set by the First Council was that all supernatural creatures only had one mate. Therefore because she was mine, I was hers. I kept my eyes on her as I could see her panic.

"No, this can't happen to me." She whispered this, too low for human ears, but my superior hearing could pick it up. Then she ran off into the forest, most likely to shift. I saw Sam quickly follow her out of the corner of my eye. Paul and Jared were laughing and if I wasn't supposed to be confused about Leah's behaviour, I could have hit them. Laughing at my mate, regardless of whether she just ran from me or not was unacceptable. I knew she would be back, the imprint bond was too strong for her to ignore. She would come to me, I wanted her to be the one to pursue me. I didn't want to reveal myself to her before she took the first step towards me. And if I pursue her, it could frighten her and take even longer for her to accept it.

Jake was seething next to me, he was violently shaking. I could tell that if he didn't calm down soon he would shift, and that would get him in a lot of trouble with the Elders. I didn't want that, so I tried to calm him down.

"Jake, what's wrong?" His head snapped to me, as if he just realized I was here with him. He nodded his head, toning down the shaking.

"Nothing Bella, I just need to go clear my head." He said through gritted teeth, and he too ran into the forest. I sighed, shifters, they were so ruled by their emotions that they couldn't handle anything that made them the slightest bit angry, which was why they could be dangerous, especially young ones with no sense of self control. I'm hoping Sam will have them all work on that in the future. For now though, I just needed to concentrate on how to get my mate to trust me, and hope that she got out of her funk soon. I had been looking for my mate for so long, and while I knew it was only a matter of time until she accepted me, that moment couldn't come fast enough.

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**A/N: Hello everyone! Yes, I am rewriting this story, with obvious changes. If you read the author's note from the original story, you'll know that I'm making heavy changes from the other story to keep it interesting, while still trying to retain what everyone knows and loves about it. **

**If it's your first time joining this story, welcome aboard! This is a heavy AU, as you can probably already tell, Leah/Bella pairing. I started the story originally as a sophomore in high school, and never really got the ball rolling with it. However, now that I'm a freshmen in college, I'm hoping that my writing skills have evolved enough to where it will be much more readable and engaging. **

**Constructive criticism is always welcome and also feel free to input your own ideas of where you think the story should go. I'm kind of writing this story on the fly so I'm totally able to work in reader suggestions for sure. If you don't like the story, go ahead and tell me what you don't like specifically, I'm always up for that. Although if all you're going to is badmouth, I'd suggest taking it somewhere else. **

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this one!**

**A Charmed Vampire**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 2**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

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Sitting on my bed, alone, wasn't exactly fun, but I wanted to be alone. Seth and my mom were preparing for tonight's bonfire, but I needed time to myself, time that I hadn't really gotten. Life decided to really just shit all over me, all at once. In the span of a few months, so much messed up stuff has happened to me. It makes me question the universe somehow. Sam, my fiancee had left me, for my cousin no less. At the time, I was devastated. I couldn't understand why he would just end years of a relationship just like that for a girl he hardly knew, but he did.

I was bitter about it for weeks, I think that anyone would be. But then something even worse happened. I shifted. Some might think it sounds cool, but trust me it's more of a curse than a blessing. Sure I get to run around as this huge gray wolf, lighting fast. But the price of that power, it wasn't worth it. I lost my father because of it. Harry Clearwater, he was an old soul, gentle; he died way before his time. And I'm the cause of it. He died because I shifted in front of him, it wasn't fair. All the men in my life except Seth were gone, Sam and Dad both left me.

Also I learned that I was the first female shifter in the tribe's history. Obviously since this tribe has been run by old men for so long, they hold some pretty sexist views. I'm always looked down upon, both by the Elders and most of the Pack. Seth and Sam were really the only ones who gave me any semblance of respect. The rest of them, either were always trying to catch a glimpse when I shifted, which was fairly often or degrading me, saying that they were the superior gender and bullshit like that. I just learned to deal with it.

One thing though about shifting, since I was linked to the pack mind, I could no longer hold any anger at Sam and Emily. I understood what it was like for them now. I could feel the love that they shared, and as much as I was hurt, I couldn't be mad. I could only hope that one day I'd find my imprint and be able to be that happy.

But it seemed that life just didn't want me to be happy, so I sort of gave up that hope. I mean the desire will always be there, but for now I'm just going to live my life, as crappy as it is.

As I was thinking about this stuff, Seth knocked on my door, which was slightly ajar.

"You ready to go Leah? We need to be there soon." I sighed and nodded, telling him to give me a couple of minutes. This bonfire, I really didn't want to go, but I knew I had to. It was expected of me and if I skimped out I would just be proving everyone's thoughts about me. So I threw on a pair of black basketball shorts and a pair of gray Vans. I already had on a black sports bra, which is typically what I wore around the reservation. Whenever we shift, we lose all our clothes if we don't take them off, so I didn't really want to buy super expensive clothing just to tear it up because I got a little angry.

I headed down stairs and into the kitchen. My mom Sue handed me a bag. "Here Leah, take this and get going. I'll be there shortly, there's just a few things I need to finish up here, Seth will go with you." I looked over at my younger brother who was grinning at me. I smiled back. The rest of the pack might think I'm a bitch, but I have always had a soft spot for my little brother, now more than ever. He was the one of the few connections I had to back when my life seemed normal.

On our way over, I was caught up in thoughts again. I tend to do that a lot, I think a lot. Must drive the pack crazy when I'm shifted, but whatever. They act like shits to me, so why should I care? But back to my thoughts, I had heard that Jake was going to bringing Bella to bonfire, yet another reason why I don't want to go. I hate that girl, with a fiery passion. She's just so shallow and fake. For one she's a leech lover, with her boyfriend or whatever Edward Cullen, not to mention that whenever he does something stupid, she runs to Jake. She gives him hope, but at the end of the day always goes back to the Cullens. It sickens me, I mean is she so cruel that she won't just let him down easy? It's quite obvious that he has some serious feelings for her, and that they're all one sided.

I had no feelings for Jake at all, I even sort of disliked him but I he was a pack member and Bella was an outsider if you will. I felt more of an obligation to defend him because we were practically family. She should honestly just go back to her leeches and leave us on the reservation alone. She obviously has a crappy sense of self preservation if she hangs out with vampires. I don't give a crap that they claim to be good and they feed off of animals, they're still dangerous. They can slip up at any time, regardless if they mean to or not, and if they do, we'll be there.

As we arrived at the bonfire site, I could smell Bella's faint scent, strawberries I think? I don't know, I wouldn't say it was entirely unpleasant to smell, in fact she smelled quite nice, regardless of the faint smell of leech on her. I sighed to myself, it was going to be a long night. I had to hang out and mingle with pack members that hated me and listen to Jake fawn over Bella, knowing that at the end of the night she would run back to her leeches.

I handed my bag of stuff over to Jared, as did Seth. After he let go of the bags and Jared walked back over to Paul, I snuck up behind my brother and pounced on him. Considering we're both wolves, even though he's younger, he's still taller and more muscular than I am. But regardless of that fact we both went tumbling to the ground, laughing. Getting up off the ground, I reached a hand out to Seth to pull him up. That's when I turned my head and my eyes came in contact with Bella. I felt my center of gravity shift, like my world was now being tied down to this brown haired girl.

My inner wolf howled with approval, although I don't know why. She should be hating this. This was Bella the leech lover for God's sake and I just imprinted on her. I could see the curiosity in her stare, although there was someone else, very subtle. I couldn't place it, but I just pushed it out of my mind. I had some more serious problems here.

I'm sure my eyes were as wide as saucers at this point, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I whispered to myself, denial of what I had just done. This can't be happening to me, life just literally wants to shit all over me. I mean I wanted to find my imprint, but I find it in a girl I despise? Someone up there must really hate me or something. Maybe I offended someone in my previous life or something.

I ran off, in the neighboring forest. I just couldn't deal with it right now, I couldn't look her in the face. I can't have imprinted on Isabella Swan. I groaned in frustration as I stripped my clothes and shifted into my wolf form. I was a gorgeous wolf, I'd say that much. The yellow-orange eyes and unruly gray fur. I was smaller than the rest of the pack, but I was still easily the size of a medium sized horse. I was faster and more agile than the rest of the pack too, which was the only thing enabling me to keep up at this point, so I would take what I could get.

As I ran further into the forest, the more I thought about my situation. This imprinting business, I knew at the end of the day there was nothing I could do but hope that Bella didn't want me to be anything but possibly an acquaintance or friend. I mean, yeah imprints were typically romantic, but they didn't have to be; if all Bella wanted was a best friend or something I could deal with that. I just don't know how I'd be able to deal with knowing that she's a leech lover.

As I had stopped running and sat on the forest floor, whining, I pricked my ears up. I could hear another wolf approaching and quickly a large black wolf skidded over to where I was sitting, nearly flattening me. I glared at Sam and he just snorted. Through the mind link I could hear his voice.

"Leah, I know you imprinted on Bella." I hung my head in shame and whimpered. He bumped my head with his nose. "I'm not angry, in fact I think this is good for you. I know that when I left you for Emily, it hurt you. I hurt me to leave you, I never wanted to Leah. If I had a choice I would have denied the imprint to be with you, but we both know that isn't possible. You can't deny this." I whimpered again.

"But why her Sam? Why did it have to be her of all people?" I wasn't really concerned with the fact I had imprinted on a girl, that didn't bother me. What bothered me was that she ran with vampires.

"Look Leah, nature has a way of telling you what it thinks that you need, even if you don't know it yourself. Give her a chance Leah, she might just be what you're looking for." I rolled my eyes, I highly doubted that, but I knew Sam was right as much as I hated to admit it.

Suddenly a russet wolf joined us at our little sitting area, but he was angry, snarling at me, bearing his huge canines at me. I didn't exactly fear Jake, but I knew he could beat me in a fair fight. He was the beta of our pack, supposed to be the alpha, but he said he wasn't ready and let Sam retain the position until he was. I quickly moved closer to Sam, who was growling at Jake, threateningly.

"Get out of the way Sam, this is between Leah and I." Sam didn't back down.

"No, Jake. You don't want to do this. You know she has no control over her imprint. Beside last I checked, Bella wasn't yours. You really have no right to say who she can and cannot be with." Jake snarled.

"Bella is just confused. Those leeches are brainwashing her. She is meant for me. I've always been there for her, picking her up when she's falling down. She doesn't know what she wants and when she figures it out, she'll come crawling back to me. She'll recognize me for the man I am. She'll respect and bow down to me, like everyone should." I couldn't really believe what I was hearing. I mean I knew Jake had some deep seated feelings for Bella, but I didn't know they were that crazy. I take back my previous defense of him, he's a nut.

"I heard that Leah, you think I'm crazy? You know I could easily take my rightful position as Alpha right now and make you submit to me. Then you'll both be mine, as it should be. I actually think I rather like the sound of that. So step aside Sam if you know what's good for you." Sam refused and stood up, facing Jake.

"Jacob, you are way out of line. The Alpha position may be your birthright, but you have no rights to take it because of revenge and jealousy. You **will **back down Jake." I shuddered. Sam rarely used the Alpha tone with us, but when he did, it was always with good reason. But Jake just stood there and laughed.

"You think that you can control me Sam? I could destroy you right now." I snorted. Jake was hardly experienced with fighting. especially in wolf form. Sam on the other hand had shifted first out of all of us and he had the most experience. "It's only out of respect for our previous history that I'm giving you a choice. Now step aside, or I will force you to." Sam still refused, raising his hackles, growling at Jake.

Jake snarled as he crouched ready to pounce. As his feet left the ground, I closed my eyes, I didn't want to see this. As much as I'm disliking Jake right now, he had a point. He could technically take the Alpha position away from Sam and easily become more powerful. But the impact between the two boys never came. Instead Jake yelped, as I heard a crashing and splintering. My eyes shot open and in the direction of the sound.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A large black wolf with piercing yellow eyes had smashed Jake into a tree, splitting it in half, holding on to Jake's throat. But it obviously wasn't a wolf like us. This wolf was standing on two legs, its form standing at least a head or two taller than I was, about the same height as Sam. A black, bushy tail was whipping about angrily as the wolf snarled at Jake.

"What the hell, get off of you me psychotic animal. Don't make me hurt you." The wolf snorted and tightened its grip on Jake. Sam and I were too absorbed in looking at this new wolf to do anything about it. Although I did vaguely wonder how this wolf could understand what we were saying in the mind link. That was a little worrisome, if something could break into our mind connection.

The wolf growled. "If you know what's good for you pup, you'll run far away from here and stop bothering these shifters." Jake's eyes narrowed.

"You have no right to get involved in this you freak. This is reservation business, you're an outsider and a weirdo. I could easily call the pack here to finish you off. I bet a couple of our members would enjoy ripping you to shreds." Again the wolf snorted.

"As if you puppies would stand a chance against me. I could decimate your entire pack if I wanted to. Now you **will **listen to me Jacob Black. I'm being extremely lenient with you right now, leave this place and never let me catch you here again, or next time I won't be so nice." The wolf released Jake, who fell the the ground, battered, flecks of blood splattered on his fur. He gave me a look of loathing.

"This isn't over Leah. Bella will be mine, you'll both submit to me in time. I will return and take what is rightfully mine." The wolf snarled again and kicked him in the side.

"I told you, get out of here and don't return." Jake ran off, with a slight limp. Sam and I both watched him go, not really believing what we had just witnessed. Both of us were just dumbstruck. Who was this wolf? As I turned to question it, it was gone. The strange wolf had disappeared, like it had never been there. Sam and I tried to find the scent, but there was nothing. Nothing to trace and follow. We both sighed in frustration.

After what just happened, I didn't know how to feel. Obviously I still had a problem with Bella, but this. This was a new threat, we didn't know just how dangerous this new wolf was. It had kicked the stuffing out of Jake, no doubt it could do so to the others. Did the safety of the pack come first? Or did my Bella problem take precedence? I would soon find out.

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**A/N: Okay, well second chapter done. I've actually had this written for like a week, but I want to space my updates apart so I don't just upload everything I write at once, and then fail to come up with chapters. I think this a little more consistent than how I formatted it in the original. I'm trying to keep Jacob in sync with how I envision him to be in this story. Oh and just a warning if you hadn't figured it out, Jacob is the main antagonist, so Jacob lovers might not like this story. Also the Cullens will have a part in the story, but not really at the forefront. **

**I also changed Leah's appearance in movies to better suit what I envisioned her to look like when I read the book before the movies were released. I know that Seth is actually shorter than Leah, but oh well. She still stands 5'10" although she didn't cut her hair off. Her wolf form is still pretty much the same though. **

**Anyways, I hope you'd be able to figure out who the wolf was who stopped that fight. If you don't, I retain the right to call you oblivious. Anyways, Sam and Leah have no idea who this wolf is, they don't even know the gender. So Bella is essentially a wild card to them. They've obviously never seen anything like her. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed.**

**A Charmed Vampire**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 3**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

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As soon as Jake stalked off, I knew something was seriously wrong. I had this gut feeling that I was going to have to intervene. I wanted to avoid this, to hide myself as long as possible, but if he did what I thought he was going to, I'd have no choice. I excused myself from the bonfire. I made up some excuse that I needed to use a restroom, and the closest one that I knew of was at Jake's place, which was a good 10 minute walk.

I walked off in that direction and as soon as I knew I was out of range of the shifters, I bolted towards the forest and pursued Jake, shifting into my full form as I went. These puppies had no idea what was coming to them if Jake harmed my mate. As the beast I was, I was extremely protective of her. No harm would come to her on my watch.

These shifters were all young and as such their senses weak. I was able to get close enough to hear Jake spew bullshit without any one them being alerted to my presence. Like I said, I didn't want to get involved and if I could avoid it I would, but if Jake went violent, I would stop the pup.

He was saying a lot of crap like he would take the Alpha position to make Leah submit to him, which made my hackles stand on end. Leah was mine, even if she didn't know it yet. It was only a matter of time until she pursued me. He was also saying shit like that the vampires brainwashed me and that I would eventually come crawling back to him. That wanted to make me snort. As if I would ever to crawling back to a puppy like that for anything, much less to be his mate.

As for vampire brainwashing, hardly. The Cullens were fascinating but they have not changed any of my views at all. If anything they just strengthened them.

But then things took a violent turn. Jake crouched down to fight Sam in order to get to Leah. I snarled and ran at him. I'm much faster than a shifter, both because I'm just stronger, plus I'm much older. In the supernatural world, your power grows with age, regardless of the species. And Jake is like a newborn compared to myself.

As his feet left the ground, I could see Leah cower behind Sam, most likely in fear. I growled at Jake, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and smashed him into a tree. He yelped, struggling against my powerful grip to get away. That only made my tighten my grip. How dare this insolent pup attack my mate. I don't care whatever friendship we have, he will not get away with this. In fact by rights I should kill him for attempting to kill my mate.

My tail was lashing around. I was trying to control my anger, rein it in. I couldn't give in to the beast now, it would kill him and while I was furious at Jake, I didn't want him dead, were friends, or well as close as I could get to being friends with someone.

Jake was shouting at me through his mindlink. Fortunately I was able to break into it because of Edward Cullen's power. You see, in addition to being born a mental shield, I'm also a power sponge. You'd think that it would make me basically unbeatable, but it did have some limits. I had to have constant exposure to the power for me to use it. And if I wanted to retain it forever, it took a lot of energy. In fact the last time, it took me to the brink. I was asleep for days, recovering. I rarely permanently retain powers unless they are invaluable for my survival.

He was calling me a psychotic animal. The pup thought he could harm me. I snorted. As if to show him that it was futile to fight or threaten me, I tightened my grip on his neck. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Leah and Sam frozen on the spot, staring at me. I wanted to chuckle. I suppose I was quite a shocker if you had limited knowledge of the supernatural world, as most species did.

Turning my focus back to Jake. I growled. "If you know what's good for you pup, you'll run far away from here and stop bothering these shifters." He wasn't going to harm anyone if I could help it. And I could help it. His eyes narrowed at me.

"You have no right to get involved in this you freak. This is reservation business, you're an outsider and a weirdo. I could easily call the pack here to finish you off. I bet a couple of our members would enjoy ripping you to shreds." Again I snorted. I could easily destroy that pathetic little group he calls a pack. They had no chance against me. Shifters, always ruled by emotion and anger. And it seemed that Jake had no sense of self-preservation at all. Much like everyone accused me of.

"As if you puppies would stand a chance against me. I could decimate your entire pack if I wanted to. Now you **will **listen to me Jacob Black. I'm being extremely lenient with you right now, leave this place and never let me catch you here again, or next time I won't be so nice." I added a little Alpha undertone to give my order to him a little kick. I released him from my grip and he fell to the ground, battered and slightly bloody. He looked past me at Leah and gave her the dirtiest look I think he was capable of.

"This isn't over Leah. Bella will be mine, you'll both submit to me in time. I will return and take what is rightfully mine." I snarled and my hackles stood on end. I just threatened his pup with his life and he still insists on trying to claim both me and my mate? He really did have a death wish. Or something like that. I kicked his side, fairly hard and he yelped.

"I told you, get out of here and don't return." Jake stood and ran off, deeper into the forest. He had a slight limp, but that was obviously to be expected. Sam and Leah watched him go and I took this opportunity to take my leave. I blinked away, running as fast as lightning away from the scene. I didn't want Sam and Leah to get their paws on me, they didn't need to know anything. Obviously I was now a threat that Sam and the others would think they needed to deal with. But until Leah starts to pursue me like I know she will, I will keep silent about the entire thing and go back to hiding myself.

I could hear Sam and Leah attempting to chase after me, but I'm scentless in my wolf form, there would be nothing to track. I knew they would give up, frustrated. I needed to quickly get back to the bonfire. But I wanted to return after Leah and Sam. I had only been gone about fifteen minutes. I had about five to ten minutes to kill. I took my time after I knew the two shifters had stopped pursuing me and were returning to the bonfire site. I took this time to have a quick run. It had been so long since I had really shifted and allowed my wolf to take over. My wolf and I were interconnected. In fact all supernatural creatures that could shapeshift were, but some to different degrees than others. Those who accepted their inner animal had greater control, because trusting your animal was the greatest sign of love you could give it. Those who fought against their nature always had less control. Their inner beast was always fighting for control, wanting to be let out. They didn't like being in a cage.

After I had run myself out, I shifted back and returned to the bonfire. Sam and Leah had indeed returned before I had. Hopefully they didn't suspect anything. I doubted it because I was just weak human Bella who ran with vampires to them. None of them could probably fathom that I was really just dangerous monster.

Sam saw me approach and nudged Leah. She glanced over at me, then turned her head back, whispering to Sam. "What do you want me to do exactly? I mean, she came here with Jake. What do we tell her?"

I heard Sam reply. "That's up to you. She's your imprint, you know that you're the one that must tell her about us. As for when, that's up to you. You can make something up now, or tell her now. It's your choice. But either way, you need to go over to her." She sighed. I put on a quizzical look and looked around, as if searching for Jake. Leah approached me.

"I'm assuming you're looking for Jake?" I nodded, still feigning my confusion. "He wasn't feeling well after he left you. He decided to just go home. He told me to tell you that he was sorry. I'd be happy to take you home, if you'd like." I wasn't going to lie, I was a little disappointed that she didn't tell me straight up. But I suppose I understood. She thought I was a human, and regardless of my acceptance of vampires, she most likely was afraid of rejection. I know I would be if I didn't know she imprinted on me and would accept me no matter what. I actually felt a little guilty that she didn't know about me. She still had to deal with the fear of rejection and such. Even though she could be a kelpie and I would still end up loving her.

I nodded, accepting her offer. I was pleased though that she wasn't pushing me away. She did reach out to me first, even if it did take a little prodding from Sam. She gave me a small smile. "You're going to have to walk with me to my place though, since my car is over there. I walked here, my house isn't too far." Again I nodded and followed her.

We were walking side by side on the way over there. I noted that she was about two inches taller than I was. Although, in both our shifted forms, I was the larger one. Oh well, I guess that's how nature wanted to work this time.

We were both silent for a while until she spoke up. "So, I don't think we've actually been formally introduced. I'm Leah Clearwater." She stopped to offer me her hand. Honestly, I wanted to do a lot more to her than just shake her hand, but I settled for this, for now. I reached out to grab it and gave her a firm handshake.

"I've actually heard a lot about you Leah, obviously you know who I am, so I don't think I need to do much introducing of myself." She laughed.

"Indeed, although I'm assuming you haven't heard good things about me? Jake isn't exactly my biggest fan. In fact most of the guys at the bonfire tonight dislike me." I scowled at that, the pack disliked my mate? That offended me, even though I really didn't need to be offended.

"I'm not going to lie, you're right, Jake isn't your biggest fan. But I don't let that stop me from making my own judgements." She grinned at me for that. I could help but give her a dazzling smile in return. We continued walking.

"So, I'm curious. What have you judged so far?" I chuckled at the question. She genuinely did care about what I thought of her. That was a good step, she was interested and cared about how I felt about her.

"Well, from what I've seen of you, which mind you isn't much, you obviously have a great love for your brother. I'd assume that you have a deep love and loyalty for your family. Uh, judging from what I saw of you with the guys tonight at the bonfire, they think you're an icy bitch, pardon my language. I don't see it personally. There's always an underlying reason or reasons that someone acts that way." She looked at me.

"You know, no one has ever observed that much about me, ever. Even my so called friends, they don't really care about me. Seth and Sam are the only ones that actually care. The rest just put with me because they have to." The last bit was muttered, most likely to herself, so I didn't question it.

"Well at least you have some friends then." She sighed.

"I guess. Although sometimes I just wish that I could just disappear; leave the reservation and start a new life somewhere else. But I know that it could never happen." I looked at her quizzically.

"Why couldn't you?" She laughed.

"Well, I've got a family, my mother and brother. I can't just leave them. And well, I've got responsibilities here that I can't just leave high and dry, as much as I want to." I held back a snort. She could leave if she wanted to, but she just didn't know it. These reservation shifters had a very flawed sense of purpose. They thought that they were suppose to protect their people from so called evil vampires. They thought that because they were able to kill vampires that it meant that's what they were for.

That really couldn't be further from the truth. If it was, almost all supernatural races would be protecting humans from vampires. Vampires were one of the weakest supernatural species. The Volturi was the largest coven in the world, followed by, I believe, the Cullens unless there are some large covens in hiding. But regardless, most vampires live and travel in pairs or triplets. They even traveled alone. Pretty much any supernatural species could take on a coven that small. Shifters weren't by any means special in regards of the ability to destroy vampires. If they could single handedly take out the entirety of the Volturi, then I just might be impressed.

We soon arrived at her place. She opened the passenger side door to her car and gestured inside. "Your carriage awaits ma'am." I laughed and climbed in. She walked around and got in the driver's side. As we took off, I gave her directions to my place.

"So, what are your plans?" She asked. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question, so I just shrugged.

"Depends, plans for what exactly?"

"I dunno, the rest of the week, month, year, life?" I laughed.

"I haven't really thought that far in advance. I'm sort of a go with the flow person. What about you? Obviously you plan on doing whatever you do on the reservation." I knew she wanted to leave the reservation at some point, and I knew that she would eventually travel around with me, but I suppose if she really wanted to stay here, I knew I would be by her side the entire time.

"I haven't really thought about it. So much has happened in my life lately, that I haven't really given it much thought either." I didn't follow that up with a comment, so we sat in silence for the rest of the ride. It wasn't really an awkward silence though, more of a comfortable one. As she pulled up in front of my place and cut the engine, she turned to look at me.

"Well here we are Bella. Home sweet home." I nodded.

"Yeah, well anyways, thanks for driving me home." She shook her head.

"No worries. I'm sorry Jake sort of ditched you tonight, he just wasn't feeling well." I almost laughed. I knew she was lying, and like I said, it sort of hurt. But at the end of the day I understood. If she told me what really happened to Jake, she would have to explain the pack. I didn't want to force her to tell me. I wanted her to pursue me, to tell me her secrets in time. I would tell her all of mine in a heartbeat, but I didn't want to scare her off, I was taking this at her pace. I suppose I did feel a little guilty that I was lying to her, but I had done things in my past. Things I wasn't proud of and I knew if she knew about them before she was ready, they would scare her and it would take her even longer to accept me. No, this was for the best.

"Oh well. I'll probably see him later. Anyways, thanks again for the ride." I said as I got out of the car.

"No problem Bella. I'll see you around." I nodded and walked to my door. As she was pulling out of my driveway, I turned to wave goodbye to her. She returned the wave and drove off into the evening. I unlocked my front door and walked inside.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there's chapter three completed. The first part obviously told Bella's side of the encounter with Jake. And Leah is trying to at least reach out to Bella. **

**I'm always slowly developing my AU, so there's a lot of information about it that I haven't specifically worked out yet, so if there are ever any problems, feel free to tell me and I'll try to address and fix them. **

**Also keep in my I don't have a beta so all the mistakes are my own. I try to read over my work a few times to check spelling and grammar errors, but sometimes I just miss things. So apologizes for errors. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. **

**A Charmed Vampire**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 4**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

Torture. That was what this was. I hadn't seen Bella or even heard from her in days. I was too chicken to approach her myself. I mean, how am I supposed to do that? Just walk up to her door, knock and say "Hi, I'm a supernatural werewolf and I imprinted on you, which means I'm your soulmate forever." Like, what am I even supposed to do? I hardly knew her and I mean, I didn't exactly like her before we actually met. I felt like an awkward teenager with a schoolgirl crush on the popular girl in school. One does not simply approach said crush willy nilly. It must be handled with care.

It didn't help that Sam had the me and the guys patrolling for the unknown wolf day and night. As soon as I had returned from dropping Bella off, Sam had called a pack meeting.

* * *

_I had just gotten out of the car and was walking back over to the bonfire, when Sam beckoned me over. "What is it Sam?" _

"_We need to tell the others; about the wolf and about Jacob." I cringed, I knew some of the guys would probably see it as my fault that Jacob had been attacked and left. Don't ask me how I was responsible for that. But some of the guys, namly Paul, thought that everything bad that happened was somehow my fault. _

_Sam must have noticed my unease. He put an arm around my shoulder. "Don't worry Leah, this wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could have done to stop it. And he was going to attack you for something that was beyond your control. He was the one in the wrong, not you." I looked at Sam gratefully. _

_The others noticed I was back and they all gathered around Sam and started asking questions. _

"_Where is Jacob?" _

_"Why did Bella have to leave?"  
_

"_How the hell did the poor excuse of a wolf imprint on someone? Let alone Jacob's girl." _

_That last question was from Paul. I growled at him and he just laughed. "As if you could ever stand a chance to get her away from Jacob. He's way more __**man **__than you'll ever be." I was seething. I wanted so badly to just punch that superior look off his face. But Sam was holding me back._

"_Enough Paul. You have no right to question or invalidate an imprint relationship. You know as well as I do that they are sacred. Insulting the imprint is the same thing as insulting the wolf." Paul shook a little, but shut up regardless. _

_The rest of the boys waited for Sam to speak. "Jacob will no longer be returning to the reservation." All the boys gasped, and a couple yelled in outrage. _

"_How could you Sam?!" _

"_You threw him out for that piece of shit?" Once again, Paul felt the need to blame this on me. Sam growled._

"_Hush Paul. If you'd all let me finish, you'd see this was not my fault." They all quieted down. "Now, as I was saying. Jacob will not be returning to the reservation as long as there is an unknown threat in the area. Follow me, all of you." We all followed Sam into the nearby forest and he commanded us to shift. One by one, the boys and I all turned into our wolf forms. _

"_What you are about to see is __**not **__to be mentioned to anyone. We do not know if this wolf is a threat to our people yet or not. We are simply to be cautious and watch our backs." Sam let the memory of what happened earlier flow through his mind. Vivid images of the incident showed themselves to all in the mind link. They all saw how Jacob blamed this on me and I could feel Paul's smugness. I softly growled at him, he just gave me a wolfy smirk. Then as Jacob had lept at Sam, the strange black wolf appeared out of nowhere and gave Jake the beating of his life. The rest of the pack were somewhere between fearful, awestruck and angry. I on the other hand was grateful, slightly scared and something else, something I couldn't quite place. But regardless this wolf had saved me from whatever Jake had planned. No matter how dangerous this wolf was, I'd owe it that much._

_Paul was, of course, the first to speak. "We can't just let this so called wolf run our leader off the reservation. He is out rightful Alpha. We should be hunting down this wolf and killing it so that Jake can return and take his rightful place." I just stared at Paul. A couple of the other guys were agreeing with Paul. _

"_Paul, we don't know how much a threat this wolf was. Jacob was one of our strongest and it controlled him without a second thought. No doubt it could do that to any one of us." Sam was trying to reason with Paul, but that was obviously not enough for him._

"_Sam, you were always the weak one. Jake was the strongest of us all, and you allowed your feelings for this bitch to let this so called powerful wolf to force him to leave. With our numbers this wolf wouldn't stand a chance. Although, I doubt you and Leah would be much of a help killing it. You were so effective the first time." My hackles were standing on end. I snarled at Paul. He just snorted. "Like you could do anything to me Leah. I'm stronger, I'm male and I could rip you to shreds. Don't even pretend that you could possibly stand up to me. Jacob was right when he said he should claim you and Bella. Men like Jake and myself are to be obeyed." I honestly couldn't believe anything that was coming out of Paul's mouth. I mean I knew he didn't like me and that he was pretty sexist, but this was taking it to a whole new level. _

"_Paul, __**enough**__." Sam's Alpha tone was enough to get Paul to shut up, but for how long exactly? "We will not be doing anything about this wolf until we know what we are up against. It said that it could destroy us. I don't know how true that is, but I will not engage it until we know for sure we could come out on top." Paul snorted again but didn't say anything. "We will be running nightly patrols." All of us groaned, one thing we all had in common; we hated patrols. They were boring. Normally we only ran patrols two or three times a week, but now because of this wolf we'd have to do it every day. _

_Paul, as usual had something to say about this. "I for one think we should just go after this wolf. There's no way it would be able to stand up to even a few of us. We're stronger than vampires, one measly wolf should be no trouble. I don't care what you think Sam, you're a weak leader. I will go find Jake and help him destroy this wolf. Then we will come and he will take his rightful place. And you'll take yours Leah, at his feet." Without another word Paul ran off, his mind fading with him into the dark. Sam tried to command him to come back, but he had broken his ties with us, same as Jake had. _

_If I had to hazard a guess, he went to find Jake and join his pack, since technically Jake was an Alpha he could create his own. And he did that night in order to defy Sam. _

_Sam growled, frustrated. "Paul is a fool if he thinks he and Jake can stand up to an unknown threat." The rest of the boys remained silent. Looks like none of them want to follow in Paul's footsteps. Something that I was actually surprised about. _

The rest of that night Sam spent breaking up the pack into patrol squads. With Paul and Jake gone we had fewer numbers, so some of us would have to take more patrols. It was decided that Sam, Jared and I would take most of the late night patrols as the rest of the boys had school to worry about. Sam wanted Quil and Collin, Seth and Brady, and Embry and Jared to patrol together, with left me with Sam. And honestly I was grateful for that. Besides Seth, Sam was the only one who actually respected me. Sure the guys weren't outwardly mean to me, besides Paul and occasionally Jared, I knew their thoughts. They all thought that I shouldn't be in the pack and that they thought me weak, especially after that little episode with the wolf and Jake.

* * *

"Leah. Leah.. **Leah!**" I was jarred out of my thoughts by Seth. I was sitting in my room, relaxing before a patrol with Sam.

"What is it Seth?" I huffed.

"Isn't it almost time for your patrol." I glanced at the clock. He was right, I had about five minutes to meet Sam so we could start patrol. I was grateful that I didn't have school anymore so I didn't do much besides patrol, sleep, eat and occasionally play around with my brother. Since my mom was an Elder she knew about the pack, so I didn't worry about needing to hide it like some of the other boys did.

I grabbed the strap that held my clothes to my wolf form. I ruffled my brother's hair as I walked out. I could hear him groan and try to fix his hair. "Thanks a lot Leah." I just laughed and ran out the door. Our backyard was in the borderline of a forest, so I bounded out the door. Once fairly deep into the tree line, I removed my clothes and tied them around my ankle. Shifting into my wolf form, I sat waiting for Sam.

Soon he appeared in front of me, tipping his head for me to follow him. I got up from my place on the ground. As we ran the perimeter of the reservation, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, he spoke.

"You know what happened with Paul and Jake wasn't your fault. Jake was in no position to judge you for something that is so uncontrollable. And Paul is just angry, you know him. He's hot tempered and acts before he thinks." I glanced over at Sam who was stopped a little ways behind me. I ran back over to him.

"I know, Paul has always hated me and Jake is just a _little_ misguided. But still, how can I ever expect to ever get anywhere with Bella? She's a leech lover Sam. I'm supposed to love and protect someone who runs with vampires?" Sam closed his eyes and sighed.

"I won't lie to you Leah. It'll be hard, but the imprint bond is never wrong. She is what your wolf has been searching for, even if you didn't know it yourself. Nature has a way to getting you to listen. Just give her a chance." I nodded at him.

"I just don't know what to do Sam. This mysterious wolf is a threat to the reservation, our families. Isn't family supposed to come first?" Sam started walking again and I followed him.

"An imprint is a close to family as you'll ever get Leah. Even if you two don't know each other very well now, you will with time. You just have to allow yourself to make that time. It's up to you to begin the bond. She is human and while she does feel the effects of the imprint, they are dulled for her until you pursue her. And you never know, she runs with vampires after all. She's probably a little more accepting than you think." I quickly looked at Sam as he gave me a knowing smile. Well as knowing of a smile as you could as a wolf. I had been feeling this way all week. I was very insecure about my wolf. How could Bella possibly accept me turning into this big furry animal? And how could I even tell her?

But Sam was right, as usual. She did run with leeches. My powers probably didn't seem as strange as I thought they would seem. Perhaps I could just tell her. But I didn't want to just yet. I wanted to start a relationship with Bella first. I didn't want her to think I was just with her because of the imprint. I wanted her to fall in love with me, because I'm me. Not because she thinks a stupid bond is making she and I feel this way. It sounded really cliche; like something that would come out of a badly written book. But it's the way I wanted it to be.

I would tell her about me; about the pack, in time. And honestly, I hoped it didn't take that long. I didn't know how long I could keep it a secret from her. I didn't really know her yet, but I planned on fixing that immediately.

Sam could see the fire in my eyes as I worked this out. He smiled and bumped my head with his nose. "Go get her tiger." I laughed.

"Maybe you should be saying wolf instead." Sam chuckled.

"You know what I meant. It's only sunset. I'm sure she's not in bed yet. Go, I'll cover the patrol for you." I looked at Sam. I was extremely grateful that Sam was still in my life. He may have broken my heart, but I now understood fully why. An imprint bond isn't just something you can ignore. And ever since becoming a wolf, ever since imprinting on Bella, he's been nothing but supportive. It's like he's the older brother I never had, always looking out for me, pushing me in the direction I needed to go. Even if I didn't know I needed to go that way. He smiled, I knew he could read my thoughts. I nodded at him and bolted off in the direction of Bella's house. I didn't know what I would do when I got there, but I'd figure something out.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, well now chapter 4. I actually rather like the way this turned out. I actually have been struggling to figure out how I wanted to deal with this. I was originally writing it from Bella's point of view, but changed my mind. I've had writer's block all week until this just came to my mind. All the supportive reviews have been totally helpful and I thank all of you for them. **

**I do feel that Leah is slightly out of character in this chapter, but honestly this chapter kind of just wrote itself. I actually hadn't intended Paul to get so out of control, but I figured why not. At least Jake can have someone on his side. As for Sam, it might seem a little unrealistic, but I've always loved the idea of Sam being that older brother to Leah. Unrealistic, maybe. But it's my story. **

**Anyways, the next chapter will more than likely be in Bella's point of view although I don't exactly know how I want to go about this meeting yet. Rest assured it will be good though. Typically I update on Tuesdays, but I honestly really just wanted to post this, so think of it as an early spring present. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Keep in mind that I'm an un-beta'd writer, so all mistakes are my own. And any plot line discrepancies are just my poor memory being dumb. **

**A Charmed Vampire**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 5**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

I heard the pounding of paws on the ground approaching my house. I perked up immediately, on full alert in case the owner of those paws was a threat. I didn't think it was Jake, knowing him he was off licking the wounds that I gave him. And if he was smart he would stay away from the reservation, but I was increasingly thinking that he probably wasn't that smart.

I sniffed the air, trying to pick up a scent. I faintly smelt a woodsy scent, smelling of the Quileute shifters. This put me on edge, but upon closer inspection I smelt the familiar scent of my mate. I couldn't quite articulate how she smelt to me, but I knew that it was the best thing I'd ever smelt. I smiled to myself; Leah was heading this way, at a very quick pace. She must be in her wolf form, which is why I hadn't recognized her right away. It had been a week since I had last seen her and I wasn't going to lie, it was taking a toll on me. We may not have bonded or even gotten familiar yet, but my wolf still recognized her as my mate. The separation was painful for my wolf. She was pining to be near her mate and as much as I wanted to give her what she wanted, I knew that would be all but impossible for me to do right now.

The shifters were currently on high alert. Sam and the others obviously found me to be a threat and were running patrols every night. And even though none of them could ever dream of figuring out my human form on their own, it didn't hurt to be more safe than sorry. I didn't want to have to hurt the pack if they, by some miracle, found out and attacked me. Even though they didn't treat my mate with the respect she deserves, a couple of them were still her family, both by blood and friendship. And I suppose by extension, my own as well.

But needless to say I was ecstatic that she was seeking me out herself. This meant she was ready to pursue me in some way or another. I would take this as slow as she wanted, allow her to take the lead so to speak. It may be considered manipulative of me to do so; to know her feelings without her knowing of my own. But to confess my feelings to her, I'd have to give her answers that I didn't think she could quite handle yet. I'd made a lot of mistakes in my past, some of them I still regret to this day. But I knew without a doubt that once it was time to come clean about myself, I wouldn't hesitate to give her any answer she wanted.

I heard her approach my home, still within the safety of the forest. I could faintly make out the sound of her shifting back to her human form and dressing herself. I must say that I was impressed that she could shift so quietly that even my ears had to strain a little bit to hear it. I was casually sat at my kitchen table when I heard a knock on the front door. I took a breath and walked to open the door.

Leah was standing on my front porch, as I expected. I had to kick back a chuckle at the sight of her shifting her weight from foot to foot, looking a little nervous. I suppose if I were in her position, I would have been nervous as well. I smiled at my mate. "Leah, it's good to see you again. Is there something I can do for you?"

She bit her lip and it took a lot of willpower to not moan at the sight. I mean, come on, my mate was gorgeous. "Hi Bella, I hope this isn't a bad time. I was just.. in the neighborhood and thought I'd come and see if you wanted to do something?" I internally chuckled. I nodded at her.

"No, it's totally fine. I wasn't doing anything really anyways. Do you want to come in?" Her eyes widened for a sliver of a second and then a glint of triumph shone in them. She nodded at me as I stepped aside to allow her to walk into my entryway. Shutting the door behind her, I gestured to my kitchen. She glanced at me and walked in the direction of my pointing hand. She sat on a stool at my counter, resting her elbows on the flat surface, grasping her hands together.

I glanced at the clock, it was only around 7:30, fairly early for me. Obviously because of my supernatural genetics, among other things, I was a mainly nocturnal creature, so I was wide awake and aware for this. I spoke up first, "So Leah, what did you have in mind to do tonight?" She seemed lost in thought, so I gently laid a hand on her shoulder. This brought her immediately out of whatever she was so lost in and she proceeded to lightly blush. I covered a small laugh and she pouted at me. Gods, this woman would be the death of me.

"I honestly didn't think I'd even get this far, so I don't exactly know. I just figured, without Ja.. I mean.. in a small town like this, you could use the company?" I knew she was about to say without Jake. I wanted to snort at that. I suppose that was another thing, since I was staying off the reservation. I still technically didn't know Jake wasn't there anymore. For all I was suppose to know, he was still there, I just hadn't visited him.

"Well, tell you what, I haven't had dinner yet, so do you want to go to the local cafe and grab something with me?" She smiled at my suggestion. I could sense a little relief from her. "Well, just let me grab my wallet and keys so we can head out." She nodded and followed me to the front door. She stood by my stairs as I grabbed my key ring out of the dish I always left on the counter and grabbed my wallet out of the jacket that was laying on one of my kitchen chairs. I caught up with Leah by my front door. I opened the door and gestured outside. "Ladies first?" She giggled at my antics and stepped out into the warm spring evening. I shut the door behind me and locked it.

I turned to Leah. "So, the cafe isn't far from here, you fancy a short walk, it's a really nice night." She smiled at me.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds great. I need the exercise anyways." I laughed and glanced at her body. That was such a lie, but oh well. She was in extremely good shape, but I suppose that probably came from being a shifter.

We walked in silence until she spoke up. "So Bella, I still hardly know anything about you, besides the fact you're friends with Jake. Tell me about yourself." This was a little touchy of a subject for me because I had to dance around a lot of the truth for now. But I tried to give her as honest of an answer as I could.

"Well, I moved to Forks not too long ago. My parents had lived here at one point, and I figured I wanted to come live here, you know. See the sights of where my parents lived." She gave me a quizzical look.

"Well, and I hope this isn't too invasive of me, but does that mean you don't live with your parents?" I nodded at her question.

"That would be correct. I'm living alone right now. My parents… Well.. I just wanted to be on my own for a while. I inherited quite a bit from my family so I've just been traveling around recently. You know, until I figure out what I want to do." It wasn't a total lie, but it was pretty far from the actual truth. She nodded at me in understanding.

"But anyways, what's your story then? You've heard mine." I knew I was deflecting attention off of me, but I didn't think I could lie much more to my mate. And I didn't want to come clean on the first date, so to speak. She sighed.

"There's not a lot really. I'm not too interesting. I still live with my mom and brother, Seth, on the reservation. My father passed away not too long ago, heart attack. So it's just us three. And I there's the guys in the pa.. I mean some of the guys I hang out with. I'm not exactly liked by some of them, but they put up with me because of Sam." I raised my eyebrow. If Sam was as important to Leah as I think he is, I'd have to thank him sometime.

"You seem pretty interesting to me Leah." I whispered. She blushed deeply, although since it was getting dark out, she probably thought I couldn't tell. I laughed to myself, gods she was cute. The rest of our walk was made mostly in silence. It was one of those comfortable silences that you only think exists in movies and books. It was slightly awkward, but not nearly as awkward as it could have been. As we stopped in front of the cafe, I held the door open for her. She laughed.

"You really are the perfect gentleman aren't you?" I chuckled at her statement.

"I do aim to please." I said in a slightly husky tone. I couldn't help myself, and the blush on Leah's face was worth it. As I followed her into the cafe, I observed my surroundings. It was mostly empty, save for a couple sitting at one of the tables, with mugs of tea sat in front of them, discussing arbitrary things. I approached the counter, Leah standing beside me. The waitress smiled politely at both of us. "What can I get you ladies?"

"Hi. Can I get a ham and turkey sandwich with a cup of herbal tea please?" She nodded.

"And for you?" She asked Leah.

"Uh, just a ceasar salad with a water." The waitress nodded again and placed our order. I handed her a few bills. Leah tried to protest but I wouldn't hear of it. She eventually gave up and let me pay.

"Your food will be right out, if you want to take a seat, I can bring you ladies your food when it's ready." We both thanked her and found a table in the corner. Leaning back in my chair, I observed my mate. She still looked a little nervous, but still more at ease than when we were at my place.

Soon the waitress brought us our food. We both thanked her again. I was curious as to why exactly Leah had asked me out, seemingly out of the blue. But I knew better than to ask her straight out. So instead I just initiated some small talk. "So Leah, like you said, we don't know much about each other, so do you want to ask each other questions for a while?" She nodded.

"Okay, so.. Favorite color?" She laughed.

"Very creative Bella. But if you must know I'm torn between blue and yellow right now." I nodded. It didn't escape my notice that those were both my eye colors, in human and wolf form respectively.

"Good picks, for sure. Mine has probably a mix of yellow and orange." She looked at me quizzically. I shrugged my shoulders. Yeah, my favorite color was her shifted eye color, sue me. "Your turn, go ahead. Ask me something." She thought for a second.

"Any siblings?" I shook my head.

"Nope, only child. My parents Renee and Charles decided to stop at me. I did have an extremely close friend named Jaymen at one point though. We were as good as siblings when we were younger." I sighed. I hadn't seen Jaymen in a while now. I missed her a lot, but phoenixes tended to be free spirits, just following their feet, or wings I suppose. I knew our paths would cross again, but it didn't keep me from missing her.

"Where is she now?" I looked up at Leah. A look of sympathy in her eyes. I let out a breath.

"No idea, when I started traveling, we sort of lost touch. She's what you would call a drifter, going where the wind takes her. I have no idea where she is right now." Leah reached across the table to place a hand on mine. She smiled at me, and I gave her a small smile in return.

"I'm sure you'll see each other again. If you were that close, you'll see her again." I nodded my head, grateful for her reassuring words.

"Anyways, what the story with you and Sam?" Leah's eyes widened a little and sighed. I quickly backed up. "I mean, if you're comfortable telling me, you don't have to feel obligated to tell me about it." She shook her head.

"No it's fine. I just haven't really talked with anyone except my family about Sam before. I'm not really sure how to go about it. I suppose it started in high school, he was my high school sweetheart. We were in love and after high school, he proposed to me and we were engaged for a while. Until a few things outside our control happened and we had to separate. He ended up marrying my cousin, Emily. At the time, I was crushed, heartbroken. But over time I came to terms with it. Sam and I are like siblings now, he's the older brother I never had, and had always wanted. He looks out for me, he.. pushes me in directions that I would never go otherwise." I nodded my head. I got a taste of that at the bonfire. He had been the one to push Leah to talk to me and take me home.

"Well, I'm glad you have someone like that, who is there for you." I stared at my hands. I had been alone for so long now, I couldn't remember the last time I had someone to rely on, someone to vent my problems to, someone to encourage me, cheer me up. But thinking about it, I had that person now. I had my mate, regardless of the fact we hardly knew each other. Even in the short amount of time I've known her, I'd been more truthful about myself to her than anyone in.. a long thought gave me hope, that I wasn't going to be alone for much longer. I glanced at the clock. We had been sitting at that table for about an hour now. I looked over at Leah. She was lost in thought again, something I noticed was a habit of hers.

"Leah." She snapped herself out of her thoughts, looking at me. "You ready to head back?" She nodded. We gather up our stuff, threw the trash from our meal in the garbage and headed back out into the night. Darkness had fallen and if I wasn't a dangerous creature of the night, I probably would have been nervous to walk back to my place.

After walking in silence for most of the way, I looked over at Leah, she was walking beside me, and she glanced over in my direction. Our eyes met and I immediately felt our connection. It was so overwhelmingly powerful that if I wasn't as experienced and old as I was, my jaw would have dropped as I gazed into her eyes. We both broke eye contact and looked ahead. Leah rubbed the back on her neck, blushing again. I think I was also blushing, because my face felt slightly warmer than normal. I almost wanted to laugh. She managed to turn an extremely old and powerful Lycan into a blushing teenage girl. Leah's voice broke the silence.

"So, Bella. I had a good time tonight. I'm glad I decided to drop by." I smiled at her.

"So did I. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had in.. a while." Truth be told, I hadn't ever had as good an evening. But I chalked that up to spending quality time with my mate for nearly the first time.

"So, would you be up to do it.. again?" She hesitantly asked me. I could sense her nervousness. I just chuckled.

"Of course Leah. I would love to spend more time with you. Your company is very enjoyable and I'd love to get to know you better." She grinned at me. At that point we had reached my front door. She walked with me up to my porch. "Wait a second, do you have a pen and paper?" I nodded, as I unlocked the door.

"Sure, come on in for a second." She stepped into my entry way for the second time today. I quickly grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil from the kitchen and handed them to her. She messily wrote down a number on it and handed it back to me.

"Here, it's my phone number. Text me, or call me sometime so we can hang out again." I grinned and nodded, promising to text her later. She nodded at me and abruptly pulled me into a hug, which I returned as soon as I snapped out of my surprise. As we stepped apart, Leah looked like she was glowing, all smiles. "I had a really good time tonight Bella. Thanks." She turned to open the door and walked back out into the cold night air. I waved at her and as she ran off I shut my door. I quietly listened to her drift out of human hearing distance. As soon as she did, she let off a loud yell of triumph.

I laughed at her actions, but at the same time felt warmth inside. I heard her run towards the treeline, immediately shifting and running back in the direction of the reservation. I laughed a shook my head. My mate was certainly something. I was looking forward to our next outing. I quickly grabbed my phone and added Leah into the contacts. I also shot her a text so she would have my number as well.

_Hey Leah. _

_I hope you got home okay. I'm sure you know this already, but I did have a good time tonight. I'm looking forward to our next date night ;) Sleep well._

_- Bella_

I had contemplated the idea that calling it a date night might have been too much, but decided to opportunity to tease her was too good to pass up. I knew one this for sure, my future was going to be filled with my mate, and I was completely okay with that.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I'm completely horrible at writing date scenes. It might be because I've never actually been out on a legit date myself. I've done the dinner/dance thing before, but that's not really too casual like this was meant to be. Oh well, I tried. I'm hoping that it goes at least decently. I did have a little bit of writers block for this, but I stumbled through it. I'm much better at writing back story and action sequences honestly. **

**But since I want this relationship to progress at a slower pace, fillers and fluff are going to be a major part of this story. I do know that in almost all of my previous stories, it was either an established relationship, or I simply had the mating bond nearly instant on both parties. However, I don't want this story to be like that. I was to progress at a natural, slower pace. So apologies to those who want the relationship to progress quickly. I'm not to going to draw it out chapter upon chapter, but they're not going to jump in the sack after the first date. **

**And as for making Bella seem really over powered. That's always something I've struggled with. I don't want to make her unbeatable, that's not the intention. And I'm planning to work things into her back story that cripples her. But based on her powers alone, I totally understand she's completely over powered. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the relationship progression in this chapter. **

**A Charmed Vampire**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 6**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

As I bounded into the forest near Bella's place, my heart was soaring. I had done it, I finally plucked up enough courage to ask Bella out. Granted, it may not have been an official date, but still, it was something. And she wanted to hang out with me again. That gave me hope that I had a chance.

As soon as I was deeper inside the forest, I stripped and shifted, my mind wandering. I howled in triumph. My wolf was also happy with the turn of events. I hadn't seen her in a week, and now I had the promise to see her more often. As I neared the reservation, I heard Sam in my mind. _"So am I to assume it went well?" _I laughed.

"_Indeed, it went amazingly. We went out to dinner at one of the cafe's in Forks. It was good, we learned a little bit about each other. And she wants to hang out with me again." _I couldn't even hide my excitement, and I didn't really want to.

"_I'm happy for you Leah. I hope you'll be able to tell her soon and you'll be happy. That's all I ever wanted for you." _I smiled to myself. Sam always was looking out for me. I had been so angry with him when he left me for Emily. He had every right to not want to see me again and yet he was always there. I could count on him, and I was grateful that I had him in my life still.

As I crossed the line to the reservation, I went to go find Sam. I figured the least I could do was to finish up my portion of the patrol. I quickly sniffed him out and joined him near the edge of the reservation. As I approached him, he turned and gave me a wolfy grin. _"Ready to run perimeter again?" _I nodded. He smirked and approached me. _"Race ya." _And he suddenly took off, sprinting away from me. I chuckled to myself. Even though he was the Alpha, he was still the goofy boy that I fell in love with. I started to chase after him.

* * *

When my patrol was over, I headed home. I needed to get some sleep. I didn't really have anything lined up for the day, but with all the patrols I had been running, I needed it. And the race with Sam took it out of me. He had beaten me, of course. He was the Alpha, but I did give him a run for his money. As I walked in, my mom was in the kitchen. She turned to me and smiled. "Hey sweetheart, how was your patrol?" I smiled to myself, remembering the time I had spent with Bella.

"It was great mom." I turned to head upstairs but was stopped by my mom.

"Hang on a minute young lady. I know that look. You're hiding something from me." I laughed nervously. My mom was going to be so pissed that I hadn't told her I had imprinted. It wasn't that I was ashamed of Bella, it wasn't that at all. I just wasn't sure how my mom would react to my imprinting on a female. She was one of the more open minded of the Elders, but being around sexist old men all the time could have an effect. I took a breath. I couldn't hide this from my mom. She could read me like a book, no lie got past her, at least when I tried. "IimprintedonsomeoneandIhungoutwithhertonight." My mom looked confused.

"Care to repeat that Leah?" I sighed and tried again.

"I imprinted. I took her out tonight. That's why I was looking so.. happy I guess." I cringed, waiting on my mom's reaction. First it was a hint of confusion, then a large smile broke out on her face. Her pulled me into a big hug. I had to bend over slightly, since I was quite a bit taller than her.

"My baby finally imprinted! That's great Leah, I'm so happy for you." I was a little shocked that she was taking this so well, but I wasn't going to complain. One less barrier between Bella and I. When we ended out hug, she stepped back and slapped me on the arm.

"Ouch, what was that for mom?" I rubbed my arm. I might be a wolf and all, but a slap from my mom still hurt.

"Leah Clearwater, how long have you been imprinted? You haven't been out much all in the last week or so. And the last time you were in mixed company was the night of the bonfire, and everyone there was an Elder or pack member, until it was canceled because of Jake.." Realization dawned on her. I looked sheepishly at her. "You imprinted on Isabella Swan?" I slowly nodded. I didn't know how she'd take this little piece of information. "What exactly happened that night?"

"What, weren't you told what happened?" My mom shook her head.

"We weren't told that much. Just that Jake and Paul were forced off the reservation due to an unknown threat. Sam told us that until he knew more about it, he wouldn't pursue it, and that he would keep us informed." I sighed. I didn't want to go against Sam's wishes with informing the council. But my mother had a right to know what happened, since I was there and I was her daughter.

"Mom, if I tell you, promise me you won't tell the others. I'm sure Sam had his reasons for not telling you." My mom slowly nodded. I took a quick breath. "That night, Jake had invited Bella to the bonfire. You know he had a huge crush on her, even though she didn't return his feelings. That didn't stop him. Well, as soon as I looked at her that night, I knew; she was my imprint. I couldn't handle that at the time. I ran off." My mom slapped my arm again. "Ouch, I know mom, running from my problems never solved anything, but I'm not running anymore."

"Alright honey, I trust you." I nodded and continued my story.

"Needless to say Jake was pissed that I imprinted on her. Sam had followed me, to try and calm me down. Jake followed us. He was going to attack Sam, take the Alpha position and keep me from Bella. Even go as far as to force both Bella and I to submit to him." My mom gasped. I swallowed and tried to continue. "He was ready to pounce on Sam, who was defending me. Suddenly out of nowhere, a black wolf appears and runs Jake off the reservation. I don't know what it wanted, but it left as fast as it appeared. We don't know if it's a threat or not, or what it wants. Just that it's a potential danger. But it fought Jake off like he was nothing, so it's powerful. Paul followed Jake, to help him fight the wolf and take the Alpha position." I quietly finished. My mom's face was a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Well, I can't say I exactly approve of having to keep this a secret, but I suppose I understand. Jacob Black was out of line, he has no right, Alpha or not, to keep a wolf from their imprint." Her eyes softened and she pulled me into another hug. I returned it, not realizing that there was tears in my eyes. "Don't worry sweetie, don't cry. It'll be okay." The salty tears running down my face didn't stop there. If anything more came. This was so overwhelming.

"I can't help it mom. I already feel myself being drawn to Bella. And we barely know each other. What am I supposed to do?" My mom looked at me, smiling.

"You get to know her better. Rome wasn't built in a day. Remember, she's your imprint, you two are meant for each other. What will be, will be, if you let it happen." I nodded at my mom, wiping the tears off my cheeks.

"You're right, as usual. It's just all so new. Even with Sam I've never felt this way about anyone. I'm physically aching when I'm not near her. Last week was killer."

"Then spend more time with her missy! That's something easy to solve." I laughed and nodded.

"Anyways mom, I've had a long day, I'm going to head to bed. Thanks for talking with me. It felt good to be able to talk with someone not in the pack about it." My mom gave me a warm smile.

"You can come to me about anything Leah, you know that." I nodded and headed upstairs to my room. I noticed as soon as I walked in that my phone was flashing; indicating a new text message. I quickly checked the number, it was unfamiliar, but I opened the text anyways. I let out a girly squeal; a sound I would deny ever came out of my mouth. It was from Bella.

_Hey Leah. _

_I hope you got home okay. I'm sure you know this already, but I did have a good time tonight. I'm looking forward to our next date night ;) Sleep well._

_- Bella_

Oh my god, did she think tonight was a date? Did I want her to think that? I knew I wanted it to be a date. So I guess this was a good thing. I contemplated what to send her in reply.

_I got home just fine. Thanks for checking on me. I had a great time too! I hope we'll be able to go out again soon. I hope you sleep well too!_

_- Leah_

I set my phone back on my desk and crawled into bed. Thoughts of mine and Bella's date running through my head as I fell asleep.

* * *

"Leah, wake up!" I moaned, covering my head with a pillow. "C'mon Leah! Get up!" Ugh, I really didn't want to get up.

"Seth, go away and let me sleep!"

"But you promised we could go on a forest run today." I moan louder. I had forgotten I promised to spend time with Seth today. He wanted to take a run around the forests of the reservation.

"Fine, give me a little time to wake up and get something to eat."

"Yes!" I could just imagine Seth fist pumping in the air outside my door. I groaned and stumbled out of bed. Getting a white tank top and a pair of black sweats out of my drawers, I quickly got dressed and went to the bathroom. Doing my morning routine took a lot less time than it did when I was still in school. Probably because I didn't really wear makeup or anything anymore. As soon as I had finished, I headed downstairs to grab myself some breakfast. Seth was already there, scarfing down a scrambled egg or three. I chuckled at my little brother.

I grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and got some cereal. As I sat down at our counter to eat, Seth decided it was a good time to grill me. "So, Leah. How's about you and Bella, eh?" I rolled my eyes. He had been pestering me about her all week.

"What about me and Bella?"

"Have you two.. ya know.." I blushed.

"Seth! No, I barely know the girl and she barely knows me. We're not just going to.. do that right off that bat. Besides, even when we do, it's none of your business. I'm your sister, why the hell do you want to know?" He looked down.

"I just want you to be happy Leah." He whispered. My eyes softened. I grabbed his shoulder. And he looked at me.

"I appreciate it bro, I really do. And she does make me happy. I went out with her last night. It was just a get to know you sort of hang out, but I was happier than ever with her." Seth's eyes brightened.

"That's great! When do I get to meet her?" I laughed and ruffled his hair. He groaned and tried to fix his mop of black hair.

"When I decide to bring her over, that's when. Anyways, I'm done, you ready?" He nodded excitedly. We both stood up and walked outside. Once within the safety of the treeline, we both shifted. I wagged my tail, smirking at my brother. _"Race you to the boundary line?" _I saw a glint of competition in Seth's eye, which I took to mean yes. _"Okay, on your mark, get set, go!" _We both sprinted off. I pulled ahead of Seth quite easily, but made sure he was in my sight at all times. I was wary that we still had this unknown wolf threat around and I didn't want anything happening to my brother.

When we reached the boundary line between Forks and the reservation, I quickly came to a halt, Seth lagging a little behind me. I gave him a wolfy grin. _"Aha! I win again." _

"_Yeah well, you have less weight you have to carry. That's why you're faster." _Seth was a little whiny when he lost, but I knew he had fun with it anyways. Suddenly I smelt a strange, yet somewhat familiar scent. My head whipped around in the direction of Forks. _"What is it Leah?" _He hadn't smelt it yet. I had a suspicion of what it was, and if I was right, I needed to get Seth out of here.

"_Seth, I need you to go home, now." _Seth looked concerned.

"_What? Why? What about you Leah? I can't just leave you here." _

"_Yes, you can and you will. I can handle this myself." _Although subconsciously I knew I couldn't, but I couldn't let Seth get hurt by the strange wolf if my senses were right. _"Go, __**now**__!" _Seth whimpered, but scampered off. I was a little surprised he didn't fight me more, but now wasn't the time to ponder. As soon as he was out of range, the strange black wolf from last week stepped out of the trees, on the Cullen's side of the boundary line. My hackles stood on end and I growled at it.

It's golden eyes looked at me, as if appraising me. As it's eyes met mine, everything left my thoughts except the wolf that was standing in front of me. It slowly approached me, and I slowly backed up. Even if I felt calmer looking in it's eyes, I wasn't going to let my guard down. This wolf took Jake out with little trouble; I had no doubt it could crush me head to head.

As it noticed me back up, it whimpered a little. I stopped, my heart beating ten times faster. The whimper sounded so pathetic, so sad. It almost broke my heart to hear it come from this wolf. I took a tentative step towards this wolf. It seemed to notice and it's ear perked forward. We both approached the boundary line. As I got close to this wolf, I took a sniff of it and it sniffed me; like two dogs meeting for the first time.

I should have been scared. I should have turned around and bolted, but for some reason, I felt safe with this wolf. After all, it did save me and Sam from Jake. It could have ripped us to pieces after it dealt with Jake, but it just left. I didn't know why, but I felt secure around this wolf. It almost felt wrong, almost.

This wolf smelt.. different. It smelt like a burnt out campfire, mixed with something sweeter, something that was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I looked up at the wolf and our eyes met again. It's piercing yellow eyes seemed to see right through me. I was about to take a step closer when the black wolf looked behind me and snarled. I turned to see Sam standing behind me, hackles raised. I don't know how I didn't realize he was there. I guess I was so wrapped up in the wolf in front of me, I didn't realize had shifted.

I turned back to where the wolf was standing, only to see the space it had been occupying empty. _"Leah, what were you doing!? That wolf could be dangerous and you were just treating it like another pack member. You should have both run back to the reservation as soon as you realized what it was. I didn't like hearing from Seth that you were in danger." _I groaned. Leave it to Seth to go get Sam when he thought I was in danger. Although, his intentions were in the right place, so I couldn't be mad at him.

"_Sam, it wasn't going to hurt me." _

"_You don't know that Leah."_

"_Yes, I do. I could feel it. That wolf was harmless; it wasn't going to do anything to me." _Sam sighed.

"_Leah, I can't take the chance. Think about Bella. You just imprinted, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it on a chance." _I groaned in frustration. I knew that this wolf wasn't a threat.

"_Sam, I understand where you're coming from. Really I do. But the wolf wasn't going to hurt me. I just know it."_Sam sighed.

"_Alright, I trust you Leah. But please, don't get yourself hurt. I couldn't stand it anything happened to you. I'll leave you in charge of finding out more about this wolf. Let your instincts do the work. If you truly feel that it isn't a threat, then I'll report that to the council, but I need you to be 100% sure. Don't decide now, just tell me soon. The Elders aren't taking kindly to me keeping things from them." _I nodded. Sam was putting a lot of trust in me. I wouldn't let him down. I needed to find this wolf again. I needed to prove that it wasn't a threat.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I'm really sorry this took so long. I started school again last week and I got caught up in getting into the routine again. But I finally got this done. I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go after this, but I think this works out nicely. **

**I tried to portray a little more of the family side of Leah. As well as integrating Bella in a little as well. This is sort of a filler chapter, but I think there's a decent amount of plot progression too. Next chapter will probably be another date between Leah and Bella. **

**I'm actually really enjoying writing this story and I thank all of you for all the support. It really does help to motivate me to keep writing. I hope you are all enjoying the rewrite!**

**A Charmed Vampire.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 7**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

It had been a few days since I had come in contact with the strange wolf and I was no closer to figuring it out than I had been even a week ago. It was insanely frustrating. I was so obsessed that I hadn't really concentrated on anything else, even Bella. But the connection I felt with the wolf was so profound, especially after a few days when I had time to reflect on it; re-live the moment a seemingly infinite amount of times over. I felt connected to it; somehow. It was consuming me, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

Sam and Seth both wanted me to take a break from my searching. They could see what it was doing to me. I did nothing except search in my free time. They urged me to stop and relax. It wasn't until Sam brought up my imprint that I relented. He was right, if I wanted to tell Bella the truth anytime soon, I would need to spend more time with her.

In fact, that's where I was heading right now, over to Bella's place. I had texted her earlier and asked if she wanted to hang out.

* * *

_Sam had just left my place, after insisting that I give up my search, at least for the weekend. I reluctantly had agreed. I needed a break, as much as I didn't want to take one. Besides, I did have Bella to think about. I hadn't seen her in a few days, and even though I had been consumed with my search, my prolonged separation from my mate was still taking its toll. So I sent her a text asking if I could hang out with her in a couple hours. _

Hey Bella,

I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me today? It's a pretty nice day and I haven't seen you in a while. Let me know if you'd be willing.

- Leah

_I hadn't needed to wait long, since she almost immediately texted me back. _

Sure! I'm free whenever you're ready, what did you have in mind to do today?

- Bella

_I hadn't really thought about it. I guess since it was nice out, we could just go on a walk or something. _

I'm not sure if you're an outdoor-sy person, but since it's pretty nice out; especially for Forks, do you want to just go walk around?

- Leah

_Once again, I didn't need to wait too long for a reply. _

I'm a very outdoor-sy person, just for a record, and I'm totally down to just walk around. Do you want to come over in an hour or so?

- Bella

_I smiled to myself. I made a mental note to remember that Bella was an outside person and to arrange future hangouts, and hopefully dates around the outdoors._

* * *

I pulled up in front of Bella's house, shutting off the engine of my car. I decided that it would probably be better for me to drive than run here in wolf form. Since this was arranged, I think it might be a little odd if I just showed up on her doorstep without any form of transportation except my own two feet. I got out of my car and approached the door. Just as I lifted my knuckle to knock, the door opened. Bella grinned at me.

"Hey Leah! Come in, I heard your car pull up. I'll be ready in a couple minutes." I stepped inside and she shut the door behind me. "Feel free to make yourself at home. I'll be back in a few minutes." Leaving me standing in her entryway she headed back upstairs. Now left alone, I took this time to inspect her place. It was a gorgeous house, that was for sure. Sizable entryway, hardwood floors, and her walls were lined with paintings and photographs of different sceneries. I wandered into what I supposed was her living room. It was furnished with a simple leather couch with a dark wood coffee table in front of it, facing a LG plasma screen.

On the mantel of the fireplace, there were a few photographs, old ones by the look of them. I saw one of what looked like Bella and another female; although I wasn't sure, since these pictures looked like they had been taken decades before. I guess they were probably her mother or grandmother, since there was an uncanny family resemblance. The other person in the picture was a beautiful female; dark brown, almost black hair, lightly tanned skin, and a flawless complexion. From the look in her eyes and the smile on her face she seemed quite happy, but also might have had a fiery personality.

I heard a cough from behind me. I turned to see Bella standing in the doorway, leaning up against the frame, arms crossed, smiling at me. "Enjoying my family pictures I see?" I slowly nodded. She walked over to me, taking the picture I was looking at off the mantel.

"Ah, this was my.. great-aunt when she was around my age. It was taken, if I remember correctly in the 1940s or so. My mother gave me this when I started moving around and traveling, to remember family." There was a tone of sadness in her voice and I rested a hand on her shoulder.

"She's beautiful, just like her niece." I whispered the last part, almost hoping she didn't hear it, but the small smile she gave me in return told me otherwise. She placed the picture back on the mantel and turned to me.

"Anyways, are you ready to go?" I nodded as she grabbed my hand and drug me to the front door. This time I grabbed the knob to open the door for her and gestured for her to go first. "Ladies first?" Bella laughed at my actions in a playful way and made her way outside. I stepped out after her and shut the door. I waited for her to lock it and then we both started walking in the direction of the small park that was nearby.

* * *

As we walked we talked about random things. I had asked how she had been since we last spoke. "I've been good. I don't really get out too much, except to hang out with Cullens." I growled softly at the mention of those bloodsuckers. I hated how my mate was close to them. It disgusted me, but she was my mate. If this is what she wanted, I couldn't stop her. I could object, but something told me that it would be pointless. Although, if I could get her opinion on the Cullens out of her, perhaps I could gauge how well she would take learning about me.

"Ah, the Cullens. Lot of people on the reservation don't like them. Something about a superstition." Bella laughed.

"Yeah, Jacob told me the same thing, except he was a little more.. forceful about it. Tried to outright tell me they were dangerous and they I needed to stop talking with them. I hardly think they're dangerous, odd maybe, but they're far from dangerous. At least to me." I furrowed my brow.

"Does that mean they are dangerous to others then?" Bella's eyes widened a second, then she sighed.

"I know they try hard not to be, but sometimes things happen." I growled. The thought of the Cullens slipping up, especially around Bella pushed my buttons. "Anyways, enough about the Cullens. I assure you, I'm in no danger around them. Although your concern is appreciated. How have you been?" I knew this was a deflection, but I decided not to press it any further.

"I've been.. decent. I've been wrapped up in a project. Otherwise I probably would have texted you earlier. But Sam basically cut me off and told me to relax."

"So I'm just the second best thing next to this project of yours?" My eyes widened in horror and embarrassment; I was sure that my face was flushed red.

"I.. uh.. that's not.." I ran my hand nervously through my hair. Bella's lips slowly curled into a smile and then she giggled. I scowled at her. "You are teasing me aren't you? It's so not like that Bella." That just caused her to laugh louder.

"I know that, your face was just so priceless. Anyways, I know how things get. You got busy, nothing to worry about." I nodded gratefully at her. Not really noticing my surroundings, I was a little startled to realize that we had reached our destination.

"So, anyways, there's a small trail around the park, if you're up for it Bella?" She nodded at me, waiting for me to lead the way. I started towards the trail's beginning; it was a fairly short one, only about a mile or two. But it was fairly secluded and not a lot of people were walking it, give me and Bella plenty of time to just talk and get to know each other, without random people around.

We were walking side by side, both not talking. I noticed Bella's hand hanging at her side next to me. Without even thinking about it, I reached out to intertwine our fingers. Bella looked at me curiously, but then gripped my hand. I smiled to myself.

"So Leah, this 'project' of yours. I hope this isn't too invasive, but what are you working on?" I immediately started to sweat. If I were to tell her, I'd have to tell her about shifting. But was the really such a bad thing? I knew she accepted the Cullens. She wasn't a stranger to the supernatural. She must have taken my silence as reluctance to tell her. "I mean.. you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious. You know, maybe I could help?" I shook my head.

"Sorry Bella, it's not that I don't trust you or anything. It's just that I'd like to work on it on my own for a while. That's all. I appreciate the offer though. When I get a little further in progress, I'd be happy to tell you." She seemed satisfied with that answer because she squeezed my hand and smiled at me.

We continued walking, hand in hand. "So Bella, what was your life like before coming to Forks? It was probably a lot more exciting than living in this small town." I was genuinely curious as to what her life was like. Getting to know my mate's past was an important part of getting to know the woman I had imprinted on. She seemed a little reluctant to talk about it, but she indulged me none the less.

"Before I moved to Forks? It was really just a lot of traveling around. Directly previous to living here, I was in Arizona; Phoenix to be exact. It was nice there, although I'm not really a big fan of large cities. I prefer smaller towns and cities. They seem more comfortable I guess." I laughed.

"I'd love to live in a big city someday. I sort of hate living on the reservation, where everyone knows everyone. People judge you for the smallest, inconsequential things. It gets old. I wish I could just go somewhere where no one knows me; start fresh you know?" She nodded.

"I know how you feel. I've moved away more than once for the mistakes I've made." She whispered the last part, I think to herself. Because if I hadn't had wolf hearing, I don't think I would have picked it up. I didn't press it because I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to have heard that.

"Anyways, yeah. My life before Forks hasn't been too interesting."

"That can't be true, where have you traveled to?" Bella was silent for a second before answering.

"Well here obviously, and Phoenix; I've visited a few European countries like Italy, France, England, Spain and Germany. I lived in Russia for a while, as well as Canada. As for states, I've also been to Oregon, New York, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, and California." My eyes widened a little. I hadn't been expecting a list that long.

"Wow, you've done a lot of traveling. That's impressive. I'd love to travel outside the United States. I've never even been outside Washington. Hell, I haven't even traveled far from the reservation." Bella laughed.

"Well maybe someday I'll take you with me." She smiled.

"That would be amazing! I'd love to." Our eyes met as I said that. I felt the pull, even stronger to her. And judging from her faster breathing and her grip tightening around my hand, I'd say she felt it too. I blinked. I was subconsciously aware that Bella and I were in a very secluded spot on the trail. No one was likely to walking and see us, unless they were actively searching.

"Well, I mean that you know. I'd take you with me if that's what you wanted." I gulped and nodded.

"I wish I could, but I have.. responsibilities here." Bella snorted.

"What's so important that you can't put it off to travel the world?" I shook my head.

"I want to tell you. But I can't." She pressed me further.

"What can't you tell me? I want to be here for you. You can trust me." I sighed and ran my free hand through my hair.

"I know I can Bella, it's not that. I'm just scared. I'm afraid I'll scare you off." Bella chuckled.

"Trust me Leah, if anyone needs to be worried about being scared off, it's you." I furrowed my brow, confused.

"What.." I was suddenly interrupted by a clapping sound coming from the treeline by the trail. Both Bella and I looked in the direction of the sound. I was so wrapped up in Bella and her proximity to me, I hadn't heard someone approaching. As the figure stepped out of the treeline, I growled and pushed Bella behind me.

It was Jacob, followed closely by Paul. Both boys were smirking, arrogant looks on their faces. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Bella and Leah? What are you two doing out here, so.. unprotected." I snarled at Jacob, although that sound probably confused Bella.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" Bella sounded confused, and to my surprise, a little angry. Wasn't Jake her best friend?

"I'm here for you Bella. You know that we're meant to be. Whatever Leah has said about me is a lie. Anything she's told you about the relationship between you two, it's a lie." It took a lot of self control to not punch Jacob right there. My feelings weren't a lie.

"What the hell Jake? You just pop up out of no where to tell me that 'we're meant to be.' What are you talking about Jake? Leah hasn't told me anything. _Something_ that we were going to remady." She gave me a look and I quickly looked away. Jake laughed.

"Oh Leah, that is just too good. You haven't told her yet? Well, that just makes it easier for me. You haven't filled her head with lies yet. She's untainted by your filth." A growl echoed around us, but this time it wasn't me. All three of us looked at Bella. She had a look of anger in her eye.

"Leah isn't filthy Jake. I can't believe you would call anyone that. What happened to the Jake that I know?" He huffed.

"That Jake was weak, and he grew up. And I think the new Jake is much better. I'm going to prove it to you. You're just confused Bella. Hanging out with the Cullens has messed up your mind. And Leah isn't helping either. You belong with me, you know this. I'm your best option." Bella snarled again. What was going on with her? I mean, it was normal for Jake, Paul and I to growl, but Bella was human.

"So what, you expect me to settle for the 'best option?' I personally think that's a bunch of crap Jake. I never have and never will look at you as anything but a friend. And right now I'm not even looking at you like that." Jake glanced at Paul and the pair smirked again.

I hadn't noticed, but as Bella and Jake were talking, Bella had inched her way in front of me. And now that I looked at our positions, Bella was standing in front of me, facing Jake and Paul. "Well then Bella, it looks like Leah and the Cullens have brainwashed you even more than I thought. I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way." This time I was the one to snarl at Jake, who just laughed at me.

"Like you're a threat Leah. You cowered last time we 'fought.' And if we hadn't been.. interrupted, I would have made you submit. There's nothing you can do. You're just a pest at this point. And I'll so enjoy making you submit to me. Maybe I'll let Paul have you, I'm sure he could tame that temper of yours." At this point I was shaking like a leaf. The only thing that was keeping me from phasing was the fact that I could hurt Bella by phasing right now. "Well I guess if Leah won't tell you, I will. Or well, I'll show you what Leah was too scared to show you." Bella looked a little confused but kept her eyes on Jake as he walked into the trees, leaving Paul with us.

"Trust me Bella, you'd best do what he wants. He's the most powerful of all of us. It would be little work to force you to submit. You're better off giving yourself to him willingly. It's a great honor to be picked to be the mate of our Alpha." Before Bella could answer, Jacob walked out of the tree line, this time in his wolf form. He had grown since I last saw him. Now he was larger than even Sam. I had no doubt I couldn't stand up to him, but I had to try, for my imprint's sake.

"So you see Bella? This is what Leah was too scared to tell you. We were blessed by the gods with the ability to shift into giant wolves. We are the most powerful creatures there are. We can kill your little vampires with little difficulty. It's only because of the Elders we had held back. But now with Jake taking his place as Alpha, he'll kill Sam and take his rightful place. And Elders or no Elders, we'll destroy the Cullens. You're best off with the winning side."

I carefully looked at Bella's reaction. Her eyes her closed, her hand pinching the bridge of her nose. She slowly opened them and I gasped. Her eyes were a piercing yellow color, exactly the color of the strange wolf I'd been hunting. But how? How could I not have known? Bella gave me a look that said _We'll talk about this later_. I nodded slowly at her, still fairly confused. I was shocked into inaction really. I just watched the scene unfold in front of me. I just couldn't do anything but blink and try to process this.

Meanwhile Bella had started to speak. "Frankly I don't give a damn if you think I'm 'best off with you.' Because I'm not. You are not my mate Jake, nor will you ever be. And Paul, you're a fool if you're following this nutcase. You think I'm impressed by the fact you say you could destroy the Cullens? Because I'm not." Paul snarled at Bella.

"You will submit to him Bella! We are your superiors, you will submit." Bella growled at Paul, then suddenly whipped her head towards Jacob, suddenly lunging for him. I snapped out of my daze in time to see Bella shift into her wolf form, the same wolf that I had been hunting.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I know this was a totally unfair place to leave it. I was considering continuing, but I want the next part in Bella's point of view, and I hate POV switches in the middle of chapters. Rest assured I won't make you guys wait too long for the next one. I've already started writing it. It should hopefully be up in the next couple of days. **

**Anyways, I didn't know you guys were going to be so particular about the last chapter. I admit, I didn't think it all the way through, but honestly, I kept Leah from recognizing Bella for consistency sake. Because if Leah could immediately recognize Bella in wolf form, she would have figured it out in the second chapter. I understand why that irks some people, I guess. But oh well, now she knows. **

**The next chapter is going to be Bella's point of view for sure. I'm planning on including more of Bella's backstory in it, since Bella sort of has to come clean. Or at least somewhat clean. I also plan on including my OC sometime in the near future, so look out for her. **

**I hope this made up for some of the annoyance of the last chapter. Oh and if some of it doesn't make sense, it will in the next chapter, trust me. And remember I write un-beta'd so any mistakes are my own. **

**A Charmed Vampire**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 8**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

This was not what I wanted to have happen today. I thought I had taken care of Jake, but apparently he was stupider than I thought, and this time he had help. I had been so close, so close to making Leah tell me. And he had to butt in and muck it up. I had carefully thought about how I wanted to approach the topic, because even though we this was only our second 'date,' I wanted to come clean. The pull of the mating bond was too strong to put off.

In fact, a few days prior I had been foolish and went to see her, in my wolf form. Our eyes met, and from that moment on, I knew. I couldn't put it off any longer; waiting be damned. Sue me, I'm an impatient one. I was just lucky she hadn't recognized me, although I guess that made sense. If she realized what I was, she would have recognized me that first night in the forest.

But while distracting her with arbitrary conversation, I led her to a more secluded area. I cornered her and asked about this 'project' she was working on, although I already knew it involved me. I was saddened to find out she was scared.

Not of me, or well not of what I was. She was scared about how I would react. If only she knew I loved her no matter what. And she would have found that out, here and now; if Jake hadn't butted in.

And his mind had deteriorated even more since our last meeting. He and Paul truly believed that they were the superior supernatural creatures. I was a little taken aback at this. However I shouldn't really have been surprised. Shifters were ruled by emotion. And pride was one they did very well. These two in particular were more pathetic than most. Although I suppose since my mate is one of these shifters, I shouldn't really be bad mouthing them.

But right now, I couldn't be any more infuriated with Jake and Paul. The were currently talking with Leah, as I was subtlety stepping in front of her, so I could deal with these pests so we could get back to our conversation. Although Jake's words suddenly grabbed my attention and I couldn't help but growl at him. "Oh Leah, that is just too good. You haven't told her yet? Well, that just makes it easier for me. You haven't filled her head with lies yet. She's untainted by your filth."

That infuriated me even more, if that was even possible. Jake was so lucky that I had full control of my powers, otherwise he would have been dead on the ground five minutes ago. "Leah isn't filthy Jake. I can't believe you would call anyone that. What happened to the Jake that I know?" In actuality I wasn't all the surprised since shifters had this habit of speaking before they think. He just scoffed at me.

"That Jake was weak, and he grew up. And I think the new Jake is much better. I'm going to prove it to you. You're just confused Bella. Hanging out with the Cullens has messed up your mind. And Leah isn't helping either. You belong with me, you know this. I'm your best option." Once again I snarled at him. I was far from confused. In fact, if anyone was confused it was him. He was out of his mind if he thought I would ever be with a bastard like him.

"So what, you expect me to settle for the 'best option?' I personally think that's a bunch of crap Jake. I never have and never will look at you as anything but a friend. And right now I'm not even looking at you like that." Arrogantly, Paul and Jake just exchanged glances.

"Well then Bella, it looks like Leah and the Cullens have brainwashed you even more than I thought. I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way." I bared my teeth of Jake, which probably looked weird in my human form, but it was a reflex. It happened, especially when I was angry. Before I could open my mouth, Leah snarled at Jake. He had the audacity of laughing at my mate. I swear this boy had a death wish.

"Like you're a threat Leah. You cowered last time we 'fought.' And if we hadn't been.. interrupted, I would have made you submit. There's nothing you can do. You're just a pest at this point. And I'll so enjoy making you submit to me. Maybe I'll let Paul have you, I'm sure he could tame that temper of yours." Leah was shaking beside me, I knew she was close to shifting, but I really couldn't bring myself to care. If I was in her position I would have already leapt at Jake's throat. I was actually impressed with her self-control. It definitely surpassed Jake.

Jake turned to address me this time. "Well I guess if Leah won't tell you, I will. Or well, I'll show you what Leah was too scared to show you." I still was slightly confused as to why Leah was scared, but I suppose it was somewhat understandable. Regardless of her knowledge that I knew of vampires, wolves were entirely different.

Paul tried to convince me to submit to Jake, spilling all this bullshit that he was the 'most powerful' and that it was 'in my best interest.' I was about to retort when Jake walked out in his wolf form, the same russet colored wolf that I had smashed into a tree just a couple weeks prior. He had an arrogant look on his face and although he didn't know it, I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"_Now Bella will see me for the man I am. I wouldn't be surprised if she immediately let Paul have Leah and she came running to beg my forgiveness." _I closed my eyes in disgust, vaguely aware Paul was saying something else. Man, this guy just didn't relent. I had no idea where all this was coming from, but I was certain that I needed to put a stop to it. He was a danger, not to myself, but my mate, the reservation pack, and the Cullens. He was a threat and would be treated as such.

I was semi-listening to Paul finish his little speech. I knew my eyes were probably glowing bright yellow. It's one of the the few things I hadn't learned to conceal over the many centuries. But Leah needed to know at some point. Plus Jake and Paul needed to be dealt with, so they would find out too anyways. I slowly opened my eyes and heard my mate gasp at my eye color. I gave a look, trying to convey that I would tell her everything, just not right now. I had some puppies to take care of.

"Frankly I don't give a damn if you think I'm 'best off with you.' Because I'm not. You are not my mate Jake, nor will you ever be. And Paul, you're a fool if you're following this nutcase. You think I'm impressed by the fact you say you could destroy the Cullens? Because I'm not." Paul snarled at me and I bit back a laugh. He was hardly a threat. If his Alpha couldn't stand up to me, what sort of chance did he think he had?

"You will submit to him Bella! We are your superiors, you will submit." I growled at Paul, ready to grab him by the throat and silence him. But something else drew my attention away from the boy.

"_You.. you were the wolf that night! I can see it in your eyes. Bella, you have to know now that we were meant to be. The two most powerful wolves in existence. Just imagine, with you by my side, we could rule.. everything. We could be gods together! I'm willing to forgive you for your insolence up to now. Your wolf must recognize me as its mate and better. Stop fighting it and give into me. Leah is nothing, I'm your destiny." _I let out of guttural roar at Jake. He dared to insult my mate like that? He dared to persist with this childish notion? And furthermore he thought he deserved to rule and think himself a god? That was breaking the Ancient Codes and nothing was a greater offence. Forgetting everything, my mate by my side, that small, insignificant pest, Paul, my surroundings, I shifted on the fly as I leapt at Jake.

He eyes widened for a split second before he growled at raised his hackles. _"So, it looks like I'm going to have to teach you a lesson in respecting your betters." _I snorted, like he had done such a great job of that before. Jake was merely a small barrier in my way. However I couldn't let his offence of the Ancient Codes slip. He would be punished for his crimes.

In the back of my mind, I was worried what my mate would think of me. This is not something I would wish her to see with her first encounter with my wolf form, knowing who it really was. But the compulsion to uphold the law was too powerful to stop and fight to think about the consequences.

I grabbed Jake by the throat, pinning him to the ground. I was vaguely aware that Paul had shifted, with the intention to throw me off his Alpha. He mattered little, but I was saved the trouble of dealing with him when a small grey wolf lunged for him, tackling him into a tree. My mate had thrown herself at Paul, but he was the stronger wolf. He easily threw her off of him and she was sent flying into another tree. I heard the tree splinter and break, along with the pained yelp of my mate.

This sent an even more powerful volt of rage through me. He had harmed **my mate**. I couldn't allow him to continue his pathetic little life. Jumping off of a slightly injured Jake, I leapt at Paul, who was advancing towards Leah. Now pinning Paul to the ground, I snarled at the puppy, baring my sharp teeth at him. He genuinely looked scared for his life, again rightly so. I could end his miserable life, right here, right now. And I intended to do just that.

Just as I raised a paw, claws gleaming, Leah's thoughts snapped me out of it. "_Bella… Don't, you're better than this." _I struggled to not rip my claws into Paul skull. Leah didn't understand, I wasn't better than this. I wanted to kill him so badly, and it wouldn't have been the first time I had killed someone.

"You don't understand Leah. He hurt you, I can't allow him to remain a threat." Paul's eyes widened in fear. Jake was nearby, still flat on the ground.

"_Bella, please. He's not worth it." _I closed my eyes in frustration, but lowered my paw. I suddenly grabbed Paul by the neck and stood up, lifting his body off the ground. My golden eyes full of rage meeting his.

"You are lucky my mate was here to stop me. You wouldn't be alive otherwise." As if to making my point stronger, I tightened my grip on his neck. "Now you, get out of sight. I won't hesitate to kill you if you if I see you ever again." The wolf gulped as I dropped him to the ground then proceeded over to where Jake was lying. I grabbed him and brought out eyes into contact. Leah tried to protest, but I drowned her concerns out. Paul hadn't broken any laws, yet. However Jake had and I could not let that stand; not even at the protests of my mate.

"Jacob Black, you have been found guilty of violating the Ancient Codes, written by the Order of Aequitas Equitas, upheld by the Dux Ducis. You are hereby senten.." I was stopped mid word by a black smoke enveloping both Jake and Paul, causing both shifters to disappear. Jake smirked as his face disappeared. I tried to tighten my grip on the shifter, but it was useless. Both puppies had vanished. I growled with anger and frustration. Shifters weren't capable of magic of this magnitude. They must have been getting help from someone. I frowned, and then I heard a soft whimper.

My head quickly turned to my mate, lying on the ground, seemingly in pain. I ran over to her and knelt by her side. She looked at me. _"It was you.. It was always.. you.." _I panicked slightly when her thoughts fell silent. I tried to wake her, but she had fallen unconscious. Leah had shifted back to her human form and I blushed a little when presented with her naked form. I had forgotten that shifters destroyed their clothes. I covered my mate with my jacket and ran back towards my house. Keeping to the trees, out of sight of any possible humans. I quickly unlocked my front door and rushed inside. I took Leah upstairs and gently placed her on my guest bed.

Looking her over, her injuries didn't look that bad. They could have been much worse. A few cuts and scratches. Plus a particularly nasty looking bruise on her forehead. Nothing a few hours of rest wouldn't fix. I started pacing her room, mind lost in thought. When my mate woke up, no doubt she'd have endless questions for me. I would too if I had just figured out my mate was a strange wolf that I had been hunting for days. I didn't need to wait for long for Leah to wake up. When I heard her breathing pick up, I rushed to her side, kneeling at her bedside. "Hey you. How are you feeling?" She chuckled.

"Like I just got hit by a bus. What happened? All I remember is tackling Paul, and then stopping you from ripping him limb from limb. Which, thank you by the way. For stopping." I slowly nodded. 'I almost hadn't stopped' I wanted to say. But that was probably highly inappropriate for the current setting. Leah opened her mouth again, but I cut her off.

"I know you've probably got a shit ton of questions to ask me, but please, just rest. I'll be here when you wake up. But you need to heal." She sighed and nodded at me.

"Okay, but promise me that you'll answer me?" I grabbed her hand.

"I promise you, I'll answer any question you have for me. But please, I must insist you sleep first."

"Okay, but do you think you could… uh..." I was confused for a second before Leah's eyes traveled down to her mostly naked body. I blushed and got up to grab her something. I returned with a white tank and a pair of black athletic shorts.

"Here, these should be comfortable enough. I'll leave you to get some rest." I bowed my head slightly out of habit and left the room, leaving my mate to recover.

* * *

Leah slept a lot longer than I expected. She actually slept through the night. Either she was more injured than I expected, wasn't as curious about me as I thought, which I doubted, or she was mentally exhausted. Out of those options, I suspected the third one was the closest. I know if I was her, I'd be mind boggled right now.

But either way, I was in the kitchen, making breakfast the morning after the fight when Leah walked down the stairs. I won't lie; I stared a little when I saw her in my clothes. I always thought it was a little awkward to see someone else in my clothes, but on my mate, wow. "Morning sleepyhead." I smiled at my mate as I continued to cook the pancakes I had on the griddle. "I hope pancakes are alright with you this morning?"

She eagerly nodded as she sat at the counter, watching me. "I didn't know you could cook." I laughed.

"I wouldn't exactly call making pancakes 'cooking' per say. But living alone, you've got to learn a few things." I finished up the batch I was working on, put a few on a plate and handed them to Leah. "Eat up, I'm sure you're starving." Her stomach growled and we both laughed.

"You're right, I am." She grinned, digging in to her food. I put a few pancakes on my plate and sat at the counter next to her. Both us ate in relative silence, before she spoke up. "So… you're a shifter…" I shook my head. Looked like we were going to have this conversation over breakfast.

"Nope." Popping the 'p.' "I'm actually a Lycan, big difference actually. Now I know you have a ton of questions, all of which I'm up for answering but I want to clear something up right away." She nodded. "Just… promise not to be too mad at me?" She raised an eyebrow and hesitantly nodded. I sighed. "I… sort of knew you were a shifter when I met you…" She cut me off.

"Seriously?! Why didn't you say anything?" I cringed at her tone. It was both accusatory and curious; with a little bit of anger.

"I… for the same reason you didn't tell me right away. I was scared." She looked at me.

"Scared of what, exactly? You're obviously not afraid of shifters. Not after what you did to Jacob and Paul." I huffed.

"As if I could be scared of those two nitwits." She laughed at that. "I was scared that if I approached you first, that you would find out what I am, be scared of me and fight the mating bond. I wanted to spare you from that pain. I've seen what happens when people fight it for too long. They literally go insane. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted you to take the first step, to be the one in control. I've been around… for a long time. I've been without a mate all that time and I figured, what was a few more weeks?" Leah stared at me in disbelief.

"And you didn't once think that I would like a say in what I would be and wouldn't be scared of?" I sheepishly looked at her.

"Okay, maybe not one of my better ideas, but please understand where I'm coming from. I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of. Admitting that to someone who doesn't even know me… It scared me." Leah observed me for a few seconds before answering.

"Alright. I can't say I'm not a little annoyed at you, but I suppose I don't have a lot of room to talk." I sighed.

"Thank you, that's all I ask, just give me a chance. Anyways, questions. What do you want to ask me? I swear I'll tell you the truth." She thought for a moment.

"What exactly is a Lycan?" I blinked.

"We're… an insanely old species of werewolf. Unlike true Children of the Moon, your stereotypical werewolf, we are not bound to the cycles of the moon. We are able to shift at will, are more controlled than Children of the Moon in wolf form, and are not susceptible to silver like they are."

"So you're sort of like us?" I shook my head.

"Well, I suppose in some ways. But don't get me wrong, I'm not a shifter like you and your pack. I'm stronger and faster than your Alphas. I'm not **as **controlled by emotions, although I won't lie and say I'm always in complete control. Your species is more bound to emotion. You notice that in times of extreme emotion, you find it nearly impossible to keep from shifting. Your species' wolf trait in genetic, mine is not." Leah's mouth dropped.

"So you're telling me, you were bitten?" I nodded.

"Indeed. I was, long ago."

"And you could pass it on?" Again, I nodded.

"I could, yes. However, I go to great lengths not to burden someone with this curse. Few Lycans wanted this life, and especially in today's world, I would not wish this on anyone." Leah nodded in understanding. I sighed in relief. Many did not understand why I refrained from creating new Lycans. My race was dying out, and most expected me to create new ones in order to keep my race going. Maybe I was selfish, but I truly did not wish this curse upon anyone. Losing control as a young wolf, it scarred me. I was afraid of causing another the same pain I endured.

"Okay, so… How old are you exactly?" I was a little nervous answering this question.

"Physically? 19." I was foolishly hoping that she'd leave it at that.

"You know that not what I meant." I sighed.

"I've been on this Earth for over 2000 years." Leah's eyes widened and jaw dropped.

"2000 years?! What the hell have you been doing all that time?" I chuckled.

"Like I told you, I travel a lot."

"Understatement of the century." She mumbled. I laughed.

"I told you, I've been around a long time." She nodded.

"Obviously. Have you been traveling alone all this time?" I sadly shook my head.

"No, I once had a partner when I was young. I met her very early in life. Jaymen was my best friend for a very long time, still is I guess. We traveled together for centuries. In fact, I helped her learn to control her powers and she helped me to control my inner wolf. It wasn't until about 200 years ago when we parted ways."

"I remember you talking about her. What was she like?" I blinked. I hadn't expected her to be curious about Jay.

"She was, well is, great. I loved her like a sister. She was always a free spirit though, never tied down in one place for too long. Actually, she's the one in the picture you were looking at the yesterday." Leah nodded.

"And I'm guessing that wasn't really your great aunt?" I chuckled and shook my head.

"No, you're right. That was me. I briefly met with her in the 1940s before she returned to Norway to go back to whatever she was doing there. I don't know what really. As far as I know, she's still there. Although I'm really surprised, she doesn't usually stay that long in one place."

"Well, you should find out and invite her here to visit!" I laughed.

"Maybe. Anyways, moving on. What else is there?"

Leah slowly spoke, "Am I really your mate?" I blinked a few times before processing what she said. How quickly she shifted gears.

"Yes. You are my mate, just as I am your imprint."

"Well you conveniently happened not to tell me you knew that. I had a planned a whole speech and everything." She said indignantly.

"Sorry." I apologized again. She just waved her hand.

"Oh well, makes it a lot less stressful on me now I guess. I don't have to tell you about my shifter powers and worry about you freaking out and running from me." I laughed.

"Like I said yesterday Leah, if anything you should be scared of me."

"Well, I'm not. So don't worry about that." 'You should be though,' I thought to myself. "I do have a question though, where does this leave us?" I hesitated.

"Well, I'm as new to this whole mating thing as you are. I've seen it happen, as have you I'm assuming. But I've never actually been with anyone before." I blushed a little at admitting that. Over 2000 years on Earth and I had never been with anyone. If anyone was the living example of the 40 year old virgin, it was me.

"Seriously?" I nodded.

"Never been any further than kissing someone else. And trust me, it was never my first choice."

"Well then… That's unexpected. Not in a bad way though.. I mean.. I'm glad I'm your first."

"So am I." I whispered. Leah looked at me with determination.

"I want to do this the right way though. I don't care that you're basically thousands of years older than me." She grabbed a hold of my hand. "I want to take you out on dates, I want to 'court you' to use a term you'd probably be more familiar with." She wiggled her eyebrows. I laughed and smacked her shoulder gently.

"Whatever Leah. I'm not that old." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Yes you are." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." She laughed.

"Well, since our 'outing' yesterday was so rudely interrupted yesterday, do you want to go out and do something today?" I nodded eagerly. Although, I couldn't rid myself of the nagging feeling that whatever happened yesterday wasn't over and that I should be worried. But I couldn't bring myself to care at the current time. I wanted to spend quality time with my mate, this time no holding back, no secrets.

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" She thought for a second.

"Well, can I ask you a sort of personal question?"

"Go for it."

"Do you.. maybe.. want to go for a run? In wolf form, show me what you can do?"

"I.. sure. You deserve to know what I can do. Oh, and I swear to you, I'm not a threat to the reservation. Jake and Paul are the only shifters that have to worry about me. I.. don't kill humans." 'Not anymore' I thought to myself. She nodded.

"I knew you weren't, even before I knew it was you. Ever since that morning, when I saw you across the border." I remembered when I did that. Not my smartest move. I probably would have crossed the line to touch my mate had Sam not showed up. I just couldn't stand to wait any longer. As I said before, denying or being away from your mate for too long before bonding was enough to drive anyone insane; even me. I stood up and offered Leah my hand.

"You ready to see what a true wolf can do?" I smirked arrogantly. Leah laughed.

"A true wolf eh? I'll make sure to tell you when I see one." I rolled my eyes. "Just kidding, sure, lets go."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, longest chapter in the world I just wrote. I promised you guys that I wouldn't leave you hanging too long, and I'm delivering now. I knew it was unfair to leave it there last chapter. And like I said, I was really tempted to continue, but I wanted this bit to be in Bella's POV, for I'm hoping obvious reasons. **

**This chapter was actually quite fun to write. Bella's back story is actually quite complex and I haven't even worked out all the finer details yet. Plus kicking Jake's ass? That's always fun to write. I don't really have anything against Jake, but he's just an easy target sometimes. **

**Anyways, finally they had "the talk." Although that's only the first of many, many discussions that they're going to have about Bella's past. We've only scratched the surface. And we haven't seen the last of Jake and Paul! Everyone's favorite shifters will be back! **

**Oh, and I started a story for my OC, Jaymen as well if anyone is interesting in reading it. It's running, not exactly parallel to this story, but it's supposed to be in the same AU. It's on my profile's stories if you want to read it. Little blurb for my story I guess. **

**I hope this chapter was satisfactory to everyone's expectations. And if it wasn't, I'm hoping I'll be able to redeem myself in the next chapter! All spelling, grammar and plot problems are mine own, as per usual. Until next time!**

**A Charmed Vampire**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Life We Live**

**Chapter 9**

**Pairing: Bella / Leah**

**Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change**

* * *

I grabbed Leah's hand and pulled her out the door, into the backyard. It was a fairly nice day out. Overcast, but that's to be expected in Washington, no matter the season. I took a breath.

"You're sure you want to see this?" She nodded eagerly.

"Of course I want to see this. Even though you are my mate, I still hardly know anything about you. I want to get to know everything, including this." I hesitantly nodded at her.

"Okay." I was feeling confident when she initially asked me. But now I wasn't so sure. I was slightly self conscious. I knew she was curious about my wolf form, and from what I had gleaned from her mind, she liked my wolf form. I closed my eyes, mentally and emotionally preparing myself. Leah grabbed my wrist.

"Quick question though, do you have to.. uh.. strip?" I laughed.

"No, unlike shifters, my clothes change with me. So I don't have to worry about that." Leah huffed.

"Lucky you. I hate that little detail about shifting. It's annoying as hell, worrying about getting a little mad and accidentally shredding your clothes." I chuckled a little.

"I can only imagine. Shifters are actually one of the only shape shifting species that have a problem with that." Leah looked at me quizzically.

"Does that mean there are other shapeshifter species out there?" I nodded

"Well, duh. You didn't think you were the only ones did you?" She looked at me sheepishly. I laughed at her face. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but you're not the only one."

"What are some other ones?" I thought about that for a few seconds before answering.

"Well, Lycans and Children of the Moon to name the wolf ones. However many shifters like yourself take on feline forms. Kitsune are a Japanese fox shifter. Jaymen is a shape shifter as well actually. Although she's a little more unique since she's the only one of her kind. And honestly, there a lot of other species as well, those are just some of the more notable ones." Leah blinked.

"Oh, I had no idea." I smiled at my mate.

"I wouldn't really expect you to. Up here in Forks, you don't really get exposure to other supernatural creatures. It was really just a stroke of luck that the Cullens showed up."

"Speaking of the Cullens.." I sighed. I hadn't really meant to say that, because that opened up a whole other conversation.

"I promise, I will tell you about that, just not now. Don't I have a wolf form to show off?" I wiggled my eyebrows and Leah laughed.

"I suppose you do. I've distracted you enough." Once again, I closed my eyes, readying myself for my shift. I didn't really need to, since I had mastered my wolf form long ago, but it was more for emotional reasons. I opened my eyes and from Leah's breath intake, I could tell they were glowing yellow.

Shifting into my wolf form was at one time a pretty slow and painful process. When I was young, not even a couple hundred years, it would take me minutes to shift. Now it was a quick and painless process, taking only seconds. I looked at my mate, who despite seeing me in this form before, was standing wide eyed and mouth open.

I walked, or well really more like stalked, over to her and bent down so that we were eye to eye. "Say something?" I asked her, pleading for her to say something. She reached up and ran her hand down my snout. I closed my eyes and sighed, having my mate basically pet me felt like nothing I have ever experienced before. Leah giggled a little at my expression of bliss.

"You're amazing. I mean, this form is just… wow." I chuckled.

"Very articulate today aren't you? I teased and she blushed.

"I guess I'm just not used to feeling in awe of anything." Leah looked uncomfortable, her right hand rubbing her left forearm awkwardly. I looked at her.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I mean, it's one thing to know the supernatural exists. But it's completely another to actually see it in front of your face. Much less being mated to someone like me." Leah cocked her head.

"What do you mean, someone like you?" I blinked. I mentally slapped myself. I hadn't meant to say that. I was referring to my past and this mistakes I had made. I quickly thought up an lie.

"A Lycan. We're a rare species now. Over the milina my kind has been hunted and killed by various other species." Leah looked sad at my words.

"So you don't have any family?" I shook my head.

"No, but not because they were killed for being Lycans. Remember that Lycans are changed, not born. It's not genetic. My family… Well, that's something I'd rather not talk about right now." Leah looked at me sympathetically. In an attempt to get my mind off of my parents, I spoke to Leah about something else.

"So, do you want to shift and we'll go for a run? I can show you how fast I really am." I wiggled my eyebrows and gave her a wolfy smile. She just laughed and nodded.

"Alright Bella, I'll take you up on that. But I've got warn you, I'm pretty fast myself." I smiled at the challenge.

"C'mon then Leah, let's see if your bite is worse than your bark." Then Leah did something I wasn't expecting. She stripped, in front of my eyes. I mean, I knew that she needed to, but I didn't expect her to strip right in front of me. I just stared, open mouthed at my mate. She was extremely beautiful. She must have noticed me staring because before she shifted she gave me a sexy look and winked. I just stood there, blinking as she shifted into her wolf form.

I looked at my mate's wolf. It was as beautiful as my mate herself. She was small gray wolf, with yellow eyes, although not nearly as bright as my own. As I stood up on my hind legs I noticed that she was nearly two heads shorter than I was. Although because I was a Dux Ducis, I was a little larger than even most Lycans.

"Your wolf form is gorgeous Leah." She looked at my shyly. Or as shyly as a wolf could.

"You think so?" I thanked whatever gods were out there that I could read her thoughts. Otherwise this would be substantially more difficult. I nodded.

"I do indeed. Your inner wolf is a thing of beauty. Something I learned long ago is that your animal is a part of you. The more you hold it back, the harder it fights and the harder it is to control." Leah looked at me curiously.

"What exactly do you mean?" I was taken aback by the question a little bit. I had assumed that Leah knew that her wolf was a separate entity from herself. But apparently that isn't part of the reservation's lore.

"Your wolf is a separate being from yourself. You've sometimes felt like there was something else in your mind, encouraging you to make different decisions or giving you input on things?" She nodded. "That's your wolf. Many shapeshifters don't realize that their mind is separate from their animal. Most of the time the animal inside doesn't have a great influence on your life. But if you hold it back, it will fight to be free. That's why those who don't embrace it are the more volatile and unstable. They're wasting energy fighting their animal for control. But those who embrace it make an agreement with their animal that is sacred. And if you embrace it, you enter into that agreement, whether you're aware of it or not." Leah looked interested, yet confused.

"Okay, so my head is hurting right now. How about we go for that run and we can talk about this some more later?" I laughed and nodded. This was a hard subject for some shapeshifters to understand, that they weren't in total control and that in giving up that control they would ultimately gain control. I gestured my head towards the trees and took off at a slow pace, waiting for Leah to catch up.

She started immediately after me, and actually bolted right past me. "Catch me if you can, slowpoke!" I chuckled and shook my head. I picked up speed, chasing after my mate. I was running fast enough to keep her in sight, but not fast enough to actually catch her. I wanted to relish in the feeling of the chase, something I hadn't experienced in a long time.

Running through the forest after my mate was certainly something else. Never had I felt as carefree as I did at that moment. There was always something weighing down on my mind, but now there was nothing but me and my mate. I had yet to do anything with her, we hadn't even kissed yet, but I knew when we did, it would be special.

Leah skidded to a stop in front of me, causing me to almost crash into her. "What did you stop for?" She closed her eyes.

"Sam just shifted. He knows everything now. I… He…" I looked at her, a little concerned. I wasn't entirely sure what he was saying. I could have pried into her mind to find out, but I hated reading minds unless it was necessary. The only reason I had this power was because I was in close proximity to Edward Cullen. And being older than the child, I had more control. It wasn't involuntary for me, like it was for him.

"He asked to meet you." I blinked, out of all the things she could have said, that wasn't one of them. "I mean, when I say he knows everything, I mean everything. He knows your human form, about the fight with Paul and Jacob, everything. He just wants to make sure you're not a threat or anything to the reservation." I nodded.

"Okay, I'll meet with your Alpha, just to prove I'm not a threat. But this stays in the pack. No one can know my human form. It's dangerous, for both the pack and me." She nodded.

"Follow me. We'll meet him at the reservation boundary." And she took off. I closely followed her and we quickly reached the reservation line where a large black wolf stood. This wasn't the first time I had seen Sam, but this time things were different. Sam looked at me and I heard his thoughts.

"So, I guess I should be thanking you for saving my pack member, multiple times." I shook it off.

"She's my mate, of course I would save her. There isn't anything I wouldn't protect her from." Leah looked at me with happiness in her eyes.

"I can see that. As I'm sure you know, I've seen everything in Leah's mind. And I know who you are Bella." I nodded.

"Indeed. And trust me Sam, I'm not a threat to your people. I don't kill humans." 'Anymore' I thought to myself. Sam nodded.

"I hope I can trust you Bella. Although with Leah being your mate, I couldn't hurt you anyway. I don't know if you know, but an imprint bond is sacred in the pack. Which brings me to my next conversation point." Leah cringed as Sam stepped up, getting my face, which was actually a funny sight since he was smaller than I was.

"If you hurt Leah in anyway, imprint bond or not, you'll be sorry." Leah groaned in embarrassment. I looked at him seriously.

"I give you my word I will never hurt her Sam. She is as much my mate as I am her imprint. Although I'm glad she has someone that cares for her and would protect her." Sam stiffly nodded.

"I'm sure her brother Seth will want to have this conversation with you as well." I laughed.

"And I will give him the same answer."

"There was something else I wanted to talk to you about Bella." I cocked my head to one side questioningly. "Jacob. What will you do about him?" I sighed.

"I cannot ignore the fact that he threatened my mate, among… other things. Your former pack mate cannot be allowed to live. I'm sorry, but if any of you stand in my way, I won't hesitate to use force to get to him." Sam nodded grimly.

"I had hoped that there would be some getting through to him, but judging from what I saw in Leah's mind, I don't think there is. There's something off about him, he was never like this. He had a short temper sometimes, but he would never intentionally hurt someone."

"I'm sorry Sam."

"Don't be. If someone had gone after Emily like that I would want to kill the bastard as well." I thanked him for his understanding. It wasn't everyday that someone sympathized with something like that. "Well, I need to go back to patrolling. Leah, I'm going to call a pack meeting later today and you need to be there. Since we know that this wolf is not a threat to us anymore, we're going to reassign patrol duties. We also need to discuss the 'Jacob situation.'" Leah nodded at her Alpha. Sam gave me one last look that I swore looked like 'take care of her.' And then he ran off.

I turned to my mate. "Well, that went… better than I was expecting." Leah laughed.

"What did you expect?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. That way you made it sound was like he wanted to rip my head off of something." Leah threw me an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I was just startled is all. I had forgotten that Sam had patrol today and wasn't expecting him to want to meet you. I guess it was a good thing that the rest of the guys were shifted as well. Although we probably should head back quickly, so we don't risk someone else shifting." I nodded.

"Race you?" Leah's eyes lit up at my challenge and she grinned evilly. And without warning she bolted off in the direction of my house. I laughed and yelled after her "Cheater!" before running after her. This time I didn't hold back and I caught up to her in no time. I pulled slightly ahead of her and that caused her to pick up her pace. We kept passing each other on the way back, and I was quite impressed that she could keep up with me. Granted I wasn't going at one hundred percent, but more like ninety. So that was still impressive.

My house came into sight and Leah unexpectedly put on a final burst of speed. I wasn't prepared for that so she reached my yard before I did, shifting on the fly, landing on her feet. She looked at my triumphantly. Once again I was faced with my mate's naked body.

"Leah, put on some clothes. Otherwise there's not going to be a lot keeping me from taking you right here in my backyard." She winked at me.

"Maybe that was my plan?" I groaned. She was going to be the death of me. But she complied with my request. As she pulled on her shorts and bra, I shifted back to my human form. I approached her and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to me.

"You are such a tease." She laughed.

"But you love it." I smiled.

"You're right, I do." Suddenly she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you for today Bella. It was amazing, I had a really good time. I wish I didn't have to go to this pack meeting. I'd rather just spend my day with you."

"I wish you didn't need to go either, but you do. It's important." We broke apart and I took her hand as we walked out front to her car.

"I'll call you later?" I eagerly nodded.

"Please do. Let me know how to goes?"

"I will. Don't worry, I'll make sure the pack knows that your secret stays secret."

"Thank you." I opened her car door for her and kissed her on the cheek before she got in. She blushed a deep red color.

"I… uh… I'll call you later." She fumbled before she got into her car. I stepped back and waved at her as she backed out of my driveway and drove off. I found myself already feeling a pull for me to follow her. But I knew I couldn't. This pack meeting was between the shifters. It wasn't my place to intrude, especially since I was going to be a topic of conversation.

I thought about what I should do to kill time. I sat on my porch step, when my mind was made up for me. A silver Volvo pulled up in my driveway and a bronze haired vampire stepped out of the car.

* * *

**A/N: So I finally updated this. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated it in a while and that it's a little shorter than normal. I've been having a writer's block on this chapter. I honestly I don't think it's that good. **

**I haven't updated in a while because I had a series of around five or six tests all within the same two week period, so I was studying my ass off. And then last week one of my dogs died, so I wasn't in a writing mood. Anything I probably would have written would have been pretty depressing. So sorry. Anyways, I should be back to updating this fairly regularly. Although I might take some time and go and outline the entire story so I know what I want to write ahead of time.**

**In regards to the chapter, I know it all happened rather quickly, but I wanted Bella to briefly meet Sam. And I also want to integrate the Cullens a little, although they will not be a main part of the story. **

**As usual this story is unbeta'd so any grammar and spelling mistakes are my own. And I'm sorry if any of the plot is a little messed up since I haven't written anything for this for a few weeks. Thanks for sticking with me guys.**

**A Charmed Vampire**


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